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CHRISTIANITY: 

A Biologic Fact 




By 
S. H. YEATER, A. M., Af. D. 



I 

£ 
I 

-»4» 



CHRISTIANITY 

A Biologic Fact 




S:^M^ YEATER, A. M.,M. D. 



Price, 35c 



Published by 

YEATER PRINTING COMPANY 

Upland, Indiana 

u/ 1 U--~ 






Copyright, 1922, by 
YEATER PRINTING CO. 



©C1.AG74865 



JUL 10 72 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Chapter I. Christianity, What Is It? 

Chapter II. Christianity, Differentia. 

Chapter III. Christianity, Apphed. 

Chapter IV. Christianity, and Education. 

Chapter V. Christianity and Miracles. 

Chapter VI. The Kingdom, the Church and 
Christianity. 



By degeneration the human sinks to the level 
of the brute. He is then no longer humane but 
brutish or brutal in his nature. 

By regeneration the human rises to the plane 
of the Christian. He is then not only humane, but 
Christian or spiritual in his nature. 

We have the power to decide which we will do 
if either. The former change is brought about by 
the influence of the evil, the devil. The latter by 
the influence of Jesus Christ. "Know ye not that 
to whom ye yield yourselves, — his servants ye are 
to whom ye yield yourselves." Whether of sin 
unto satan or of righteousness unto Christ. 



PREFACE 



The author feels that he need make no apol- 
ogy for writing on the subject of Christianity. It 
has been a timely subject for over nineteen hun- 
dred years, but was never more so than it is today. 
Men have scrutinized and conjectured about it and 
tried to obscure or even obliterate it. 

Yet it stands as one of the foremost topics 
for investigation. Many late writers have dis- 
cussed it in connection with some of the social 
and political movements: "Christianity and the 
Social Crisis ;" ''Christianity and Socialism ;'* 
"Christianity and Commercialism;" etc. They 
seem to think it is a kind of an "off ox" that must 
be yoked in v^th something else tiiat we know 
better how to handle. 

It is thought to be good for something, but 

the question is how and where to make that some- 
thing available. Evidently it is considered im- 
practical, in and of itself. 

Our conceptions have been all too vague and 
uncertain in regard to it. The author does not 
hope to present anything new on the subject, 
but if he can awaken a new interest in a Theme 
and in a "Story that never grows old," he will 
feel fully satisfied with his efforts. 

Withal it has been a very agreeable and 
helpful task. 

S. H. YEATER. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In so limited a space it is possible to speak only 
in general terms, to merely indicate the strong 
outstanding parts of the structure without touch- 
ing on minor details ; these, the careful reader will 
fill in as he views the outlines of the Building. 

We have endeavored to bring out the salient 
points of Christianity, and especially to emphasize 
the one primary fact, that it is a thing of life and 
not of religion. 

Its study falls within the comprehensive 
lines of Biology, and not simply Ethics and Esca- 
tology. 

The name itself in structure and term- 
inology indicates that it is one of the living, grow- 
ing families of the biologic universe. 

It is a part of our business and purpose in 
this brief work to find its place and status, and 
our relationship to it. 

We ask then that the reader take a broad- 
minded and not a narrow view of the contents of 
this book. In places you will read many things be- 
tween the lines which the author perhaps never 
thought of. Again, you may find redundancies 
which might well have been omitted; but, ''What 
I have written I have Written." 

Our hope and desire is that it may help to a 
clearer conception of Jesus Christ and his mission 
to the world. 



CHAPTER I. 
Christianity, What Is It? 

We can not fully know what Christianity is 
unless we know who Christ is ; and until we know 
who we, ourselves, are it will be impossible to 
fully comprehend who and what Christ is; even 
though someone well acquainted with Him should 
introduce Him to us. 

So you see, at the very beginning, the magni- 
tude of the task before us when we undertake to 
answer the question here presented. I shall as- 
sume that I am talking to intelligent people who 
are Bible readers, those who are more or less 
familiar with the narrative of Jesus Christ con- 
tained in the New Testament. Now, to take up 
the study of Man and try to elucidate all the mys- 
teries and harmonize all the theories about his 
origin and existence here on earth, would be a 
fruitless undertaking. You will all agree to that 
I know. However, I must ask that you give 
credence to some very essential things concerning 
man and his relation to God as the author of his 
being and the guardian of his existence. I ask 
also that you accept Bible quotations as final, for 
we are not here to prove the Bible. 

In regard to ourselves, then, I quote the ques- 
tion, ''What is m.an, that Thou art mindful of 
him, or the son of man that Thou visitest him T' 
I also quote an answer to the question; "Thou 
madest him a little lower than the angels, and 
crownest him with glory and honor ; Thou makest 
him to have dominion over the work of thy hands ; 
Thou has put all things under his feet." A little 
lower than angels — over the works of God's 
hands. 

Hence, man occupies a place intermediate be- 
tween created things upon the earth and the 



8 CHRISTIANITY 

angels or celestial beings, of which we have very 
little knowledge. Man has a material body in 
common with the lower animals; man has mind 
or intelligence, which is shared also by the lower 
animals, though in a lesser degree than man. 
Hence, as we have quoted, man has dominion over 
them, they are ''put under his feet," i. e., under 
his control. (It will not be long until all wild and 
predatory animals will be brought under man's 
control and either be domesticated or become 
extinct). While, on the other hand, man has a 
spirit in common with the angels, (I believe 
there are no Sadduces among us who will deny 
the existence of angels), so that man is vitally 
connected with what is a little beneath him and 
also with what is a little above him. 

Doubtless the angels that are "a little" high- 
er than we are, may, in so far as God permits, 
exercise the same kind of power over us that we 
do over the lower animals. The animals do not 
understand how or why it is that we get such 
power over them; they just resist and then give 
up or yield to what they are forced to recognize 
as a superior force. We do the same under the 
higher influences. 

Now what is it that distinguishes us from 
that which is below us, namely, the lower animals, 
and also from that which is above us — the 
angels ? We have something which neither angels 
nor animals possess. It is a soul. 

When man was still but an animal body 
"God breathed into him the breath of life, and he 
became a living soul." Then what am I, — an 
animal? No, though I still have an animal body 
in my possession and under my control. I was an 
animal till God breathed into me the breath of 
life, then I became what I now am, a soul. Neither 
am I an angel, though I possess a spirit in com- 
mon with angels. Nor will I ever become an 



CHRISTIANITY 9 

angel, though I may become m^ore hke them as 1 
strive to sever my connection with the lower na- 
ture and cultivate and strengthen the higher, the 
spiritual side of my being, by ''setting my affec- 
tions on things that are above, and not on the 
things that are on the earth. 

As living souls (for souls may die — ''The soul 
that sinneth, it shall die," — but more of that 
later) we have discretionary powers, i. e., the 
ability to choose our associations from either side 
of us ; from that which is lower or from that 
which is higher, the material or the spiritual side. 

We all know what our associations mean for 
us. We become more and more like that to which 
we yield our affections and give our attentions. 
"He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh 
reap corruption but he that sovv^eth to the spirit, 
shall of the spirit reap life everlasting." Should 
we then yield our thoughts and ourselves to our 
lower nature, lose our grasp on that which is 
above and settle back down to the plane of the 
dog and the ox, that die and putrefy, with no 
power to redeem us from corruption? 

But now we must begin to approach our real 
subject. To know Vv^hat one has done sometimes 
tells better than anything else who and what 
he is. When Ulysses, the hero of Troy, after hav- 
ing conquered the Trojans, and wandered for 
twenty-five years over unknown seas, meeting dis- 
aster of every kind, finally reached his homeland 
again, they greeted him and feted him and almost 
worshiped him. One of his admiring friends asked 
him: "Ulysses, who are you?" He promptly re- 
plied, "I am a part of all I have met," meaning 
that he not only conquered the Trojans, but that 
every adverse circumstance on the way had made 
its impress on him. 

Man is not now, quite, what he became when 
God breathed into him the breath of life. Some- 



10 CHRISTIANITY 

thing met him and brought him ''into captivity 
and slew him;'' so he is now no longer a living 
soul but a blighted and dead soul in a living body. 
I 'Dead in trespasses and in sins/' Sin waylaid 
him and snared him. It severed his connection on 
the spirit side of his nature and left the animal 
side to dominate his entire being, so that his real 
self is dead, and his existence is headed toward de- 
struction. He forfeited his better self to gratify 
his baser self. Are we doing anything like that 
today? The edict from God was, "dying thou 
shalt die," i. e., die out, become extinct upon the 
earth. "He is become like the chaff that the 
wind driveth away," the place where he was once 
crowned with glory and honor "shall soon know 
him no more forever." What a catastrophe to the 
crowning work of God's creation, shall we say? 
NO, NO ! Wait, just listen— "0, Hsten to the 
wondrous story:" "The seed of the woman shall 
bruise the serpent's head:" "I know that my re- 
deemer liveth, and he shall stand upon the earth 
at the last days" — Job. "A prophet shall the 
Lord your God raise up like unto me ; Him shall ye 
hear in ail things, ; and it shall be that whosoever 
will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from 
among the people." — Moses. 

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a 
Son, and shall call His name Emmanuel (God with 
us)." — Isaiah. (Read Isa. 53). 

"But thou Bethlehem which are but little 
among the cities of Judah, out of thee shall come 
forth unto me one that is to be ruler in Israel, 
God's people, whose goingsforth are from of old, 
from the beginning of days." — Micah. 

"Unto you that fear my name, shall the Sun 
of righteousness arise, with healing in his wings." 
—Mai. 

"Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my 
beloved in whom my soul is well pleased; I will 



CHRISTIANITY 11 

put my spirit upon him and he shall declare judg- 
ment to the nations." — Matth. 

'Tear not, Mary, for thou art endued with 
grace from God ; thou shalt conceive in thy womb, 
and shalt bring forth a Son, and shalt call His 
name Jesus; for He shall save His people from 
their sins, and He shall be called the Son of the 
Most High/'— Matth. 

*'Be not afraid, for behold, I bring you good 
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; 
for unto you is born this day in the city of 
David, a Savior, who is Christ, the Lord.'' — Matth, 

Also the testimony of old Simeon, ''Mine eyes 
have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared 
before the face of all peoples; a light to lighten 
the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel.'' 
—Matth. 

Hear a voice at the transfiguration, God 
said ; "He is my beloved son ; hear ye Him." Also 
we have Christ's own testimony: "The spirit of 
Jehovah is upon me! because He hath annointed 
me to preach good tidings to the poor, He hath 
sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and 
recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty 
them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable 
j^ear of the Lord. Today is this scripture ful- 
filled," 

Did He do what He was annointed to do? Did 
He do what God sent Him to do? Did anyone 
ever before preach good tidinR-s to the poor? 
Never. Did anyone ever proclaim release to a 
single soul whom "satan had made captive at his 
will?" Never. Had anyone ever given sight to 
the blind? Never. Did anyone ever apply the 
healing balm to them that were bruised, them that 
were crushed down and in despair? Never. Did 
anyone ever before announce the acceptable year 
of the Lord? Yes, His forerunner, John the Bap- 
tist, who came the nearest to being the real man 



42 



12 CHRISTIANITY 

of any that was ever born or woman, said: "The 
kingdom of heaven is at hand." His chosen twelve 
said, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand." The 
seventy others He sent out were commanded to 
announce, even to those who rejected them: 
''Nevertheless, know this, that the kingdom of 
God is com.e nigh unto you." All these hopeful 
promises and their fulfillment refer to Christ, the 
One whom we are trying to know and to consider. 

Let us note, also. His reply to the messengers 
sent to Him from John (who v/as then in prison) 
Vv^ith this important and searching question, |'Art 
thou He that should come, or look we for an- 
other?" His reply was, "Go, tell John the things 
ye do see and hear. The blind receive their sight, 
the lam.e walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf 
hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have 
the gospel preached unto them; and happy is he 
who shall find no occasion of stumbling in Me." 

Did any of you ever study Hopkins' "Evi- 
dences of Christianity" and Butler's "Analogy?" 
I did; but I tell you it is trash compared to the 
evidences sent to John. Have we the same evi- 
dence today ? Look about you : Where He healed 
scores then, He heals thousands now. Whereas, 
He fed thousands then. He is feeding hundreds of 
thousands now. He preached to hundreds of thou- 
sands then — He is preaching to millions now, and 
blessed are we "who find no occasion of stumbling 
in Him." 

Now, "Whom do men say that I the Son of 
man am?" "Some say, John the Baptist, some say 
Elias, and others Jeremiah or one of the proph- 
ets." (Every one of these names were highly 
esteemed. They were honorable and noted char- 
acters) . Men placed Him as high as their moral 
conceptions would allow them to do. They could 
not conceive of any one being higher than these 
prophets. If I ask you the same question now. 



CHRISTIANITY 13 

you would have to answer in the light of facts : 
''Some say, an impostor, some say, a fanatic, some 
a religious enthusiast." Others would say, ''He 
is the author of a new religion.'' And another, 
perhaps, "A good man, but misunderstood and 
misquoted by His followers." While still others 
would say that "He certainly was a good man, a 
great teacher and, moral reformer." 

That is as high as the human mind can put 
Him, for we cannot conceive of anything higher; 
our vision is too limited. After all, when Jesus 
asked His disciples that question and got their 
ansv/er. He did not even notice or comment on it. 
He did not care what people in general thought of 
him.; but He immediately asked them a second 
question which did vitally concern Him and them : 
"Whom do ye say that I am?" The answer was 
ready, prompt and definite (no "perhaps," "may- 
be," or "I believe" about it) , '''Thou art the Christ, 
the Son of the living God/' (Good answer). 
"Blessed art thou, Peter, but flesh and blood hath 
not revealed it unto thee, but My Father w^ho is 
in heaven." 

That revelation and that prompt, fearless ans- 
wer in response makes you or anyone a rock, 
solid, immovable, unassailable. "I will found my 
church on this Rock, and the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against it." There can be no guess- 
work about the who and what Christ is. 

Shall I now turn the same question from m.en 
in general to church members in particular? If 
I do shall I get the same definite reply that Peter 
gave? Will I get it from one out of twelve, of 
you ? I shall not ask it. 

God help every one of us v/ho has not had 
a revelation of Jesus Christ to seek it with all dili- 
gence, till we '%iiow Him whom we have believed." 
"For this is life eternal, to know Thee, the only 
true God, and Jesus Christ wl\om Thou hast 



14 CHRISTIANITY 

sent." To know Christ is to love Him, and to love 
Him is to keep His commandments; to love Him 
and keep His commandments is to have His in- 
dwelling presence continually, and that is life. 

Jesus said, *'If a man love Me he will keep 
my word; and My Father will love him, and we 
will come unto him and make our abode with 
Him." The Father, Jesus the Son, and we His 
follovvers, all in the same '*abode." His prayer 
was, 'T in them and Thou in Me; that they may be 
perfected into one." That is, God is in Christ, 
and Christ is in us. Emmanuel, ''God with us" 
and Christ in us; Christ in humanity is Christ- 
ianity. 

I repeat, ''Christianity, what is it?" Now let 
Paul, also, answer: "You, to whom God would 
make know^n what is the riches of the glory of this 
mystery; which is Christ in yoUy the hope of 
glory." Reviving the soul, the crowning glory of 
man. Christ, whom we preach, warning every 
man and teaching every man, in all wisdom, so 
that we may present every man perfect in Christ 
Jesus," ' 

The real Christ is a mystery to every one, 
until God reveals Him. I cannot reveal Him; the 
Preacher cannot reveal Him, "flesh and blood,' 
cannot reveal Him; but m.y Father which is in 
Heaven. 

The Father reveals the Son, and the Son, re- 
veals the Father. To have life-Eternal we must 
know both the Father and the Son. 

We have learned that there could be no 
Christianity without Christ. And that there 
would have been no need for Christ if there had 
been no Sin. He is the sin bearer. Sin mxay not 
seem so bad till we consider the results. "Sin 
when it is finished bringeth forth death." Sin 
spoiled God's work. It destroyed the God-likeness 
in man. God could not finish man until Christ 



CHRISTIANITY 15 

destroyed the works ofv the devil. You know 
there are two men, and only two, in the world. 
The first man Adam and the last Adam. The 
rest of us are only reproductions of the one or 
the other of these. 'The first Adam was made a 
living soul," the last Adam was made a quicken- 
ing spirit. The first, is of the earth earthy, the 
last is the Lord from Heaven. 

The former, with all of His progeny, are 
earthly, created beings; and together constitute 
humanity. The latter, with all of his, are Heaven- 
ly; their citizenship is in Heaven,'' and together 
they constitute Christian-ity. 

The Christian in his present state, belongs, 
in part, to two kingdoms ; the animal kingdom and 
the spiritual, or kingdom of Heaven, which had 
its opening from John the Baptist, when he said: 
*The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand/ 

Men and women have been entering into it 
ever since. The kingdom of Heaven is not yet, a 
dominant kingdom on earth, but the indications 
are, that it soon will be. It may be a few thou- 
sand years, but that is not long. When Christ 
"shall sit on the throne of His glory and separate 
between the nations;" the Christians shall be as- 
sembled on His right, and the unchristian on His 
left. 

The former shall inherit the kingdom pre- 
pared for them; and the latter shall go away in 
to everlasting destruction, shall I say? No, be- 
cause the record from which I quote, does not say 
it that way; but everlasting punishment; (but is 
not destruction, punishment?) and the righteous 
into life eternal." 

I can have no proper conception of that pun- 
ishment. I do not care to know, my highest con- 
cern is, to be, and to remain, a citizen of the 
higher kingdom. 

No power on earth could induce me to become 



16 CHRISTIANITY 

a materialist, for tho I came up from the earthly, 
I never want to return back to it. *lf we then 
be risen with Christ, let us seek those things 
which are above where Christ sitteth." 

Christ does three things for us, First He 
takes away our sins, then He quickens us or makes 
us alive again, and sets us free. Then, lastly. He 
extends a helping hand to us, saying: ''Come unto 
me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest; take my yoke upon you and learn 
of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you 
shall find rest unto your souls." 

We could not come to Him until we were 
alive and free. Some of you remember the slave, 
whom some benevolent man had bought and set 
free. When he found that he was free, he re- 
joiced greatly; but then, although he was free he 
did not know what to do. So, after awhile, he 
sought out the man who had set him free, and 
asked that he might become his slave. So Christ, 
not only sets us free, but He invites us into His 
own family, and we have Him for a friend and 
counselor always. 

Do you know, or do you wonder, why Jesus 
put his invitation that way, saying: ''all ye that 
labor and are heavy laden?'' 

You remember what the curse was, on man, 
for his disobedience; "in the sweat of thy face 
shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the 
ground ; for out of it wast thou taken ; Dust thou 
art and unto dust shalt thou return." 

Tho our sins be removed ,and we are made 
alive and set free, that sentence, from God, still 
stands; and we are not relieved from the curse, 
until we are safe within the fold of Christ; and 
have his yoke upon us, and Him for a yokefel- 
low, "I stand amazed, in the presence of Jesus, 
the Nazarene ; and wonder how he could love me, 
a sinner condemned, unclean; how wonderful is 



CHRISTIANITY 17 

my Saviour's love for me." 

If I were asked the question: "What is the 
greatest need of the Church?" I should say: *lt 
is the need of Spiritual development in its individ- 
ual members." 

For that is what makes us more Christ-like. 
The Spirit is a gift from God to us, who have be- 
come Disciples of Christ. But like all our other 
gifts from Him, it is given in the embryonic or 
undeveloped form, and we are expected to grow in 
spiritual stature, just as we grew in body and 
mind. 

Our bodies are very small at the beginning 
of our existence, so small that it requires a mag- 
nifying glass to see them. So also, with the 
mind. In the infant, it seems almost a blank, but 
the germ of it is there ; and how wonderfully in- 
teresting it is, especially to the parents, to watch 
it unfold ; day by day, month by month, and year 
by year. They notice every indication of its 
development, and soon begin to say : "How bright 
it is," "how smart," "how cute." They are glad 
when it is old enough to go to school; they scan 
its grade cards to see how high it stands in its 
classes. 

When graduating time comes, how eager they 
are to attend the exercises. With what pride they 
listen to their girl's essay or their boy's oration; 
they are sure He will do something worth while, 
for he has a well developed, strong mind. 

While the body was growing they provided 
food and clothing for it; yet, their chief concern 
was the development of the mind. Too often par- 
ents are satisfied with this bodily and intellectual 
equipment. 

They, no doubt, think this fits their child 
for any and every emergency in life. What 
a mistake! Think of the humiliation to them, 
when a few years later, they hear that their child, 



18 CHRISTIANITY 

their boy, or their girl, has gone to the bad, with 
a ruined character and a criminal record. Our 
penitentiaries have a large percent of college 
graduates in them ; and there is still a larger num- 
ber of them who ought to be there. 

No, it is not enough that we have, and de- 
velop body and mind. There must be something 
higher, and greater, and better, than intellect ; and 
God gives it to us, just as He gave us our bodies 
and our minds. Do you ask what that something 
is. It is soul-life and spirit, by the soul we know 
right and wrong, by the good spirit we are im- 
pelled to do right by the evil spirit we are im- 
pelled, literally driven, to do wrong. 

By inreritance, we are the recipients of an 
evil spirit. It, like our minds, is undeveloped, and 
we are fortunate when it remains so. Thru faith 
in Jesus Christ, who from His birth was possess- 
ed with the good spirit, we may have the evil 
spirit removed, or destroyed, and the good spirit 
of Christ implanted in us. 

Then, as soon as that is done for us, we are 
changed, i. e., we are converted, we have the 
Spirit of Christ. And now immediately should 
the work of development and growth begin. 

It is our work. It is done and proceeds on the 
same principles of develojmient and growth as in 
any other department of life ; by giving attention 
to the cultivation of it, by exercising and using 
it. We all know very well that any living thing 
develops in just that way. 

It has been a very rare thing to see the 
words : spirit or spiritual used in connection with 
the make up of a man's character, in any of the 
secular papers or magazines, until quite lately 
Such words were thought to be out of place, any- 
where except in the pulpit or in ultra religious 
papers. It is so generally believed, that body 
and mind are all that we are, and all that we have 



CHEISTIANITY 19 

to do with, that the idea of Spiritual faculties, is 
regarded as a superstitutious innovation. Just 
lately, however, a change in thought has taken 
place, I give here an extract from a Farm Journal. 
In commenting on the rush of people from the 
country to the town, it has this to say: 'To cure 
this ill, agriculture miust have a fair chance to 
develop, so that its rewards financial, social, and 
spiritual, shall compare favorably with other vo- 
cations. We need leaders in Citizenship, in mind 
and in Spirit. Spiritual well being, mental poise 
and economic welfare, are the trinity, which en- 
ables the "individual group, or nation to pass from 
adversity to prosperity." That is good; you 
see the Spiritual side of our life is being con- 
sidered, as a practical and desirable part of our 
makeup. 

¥/hen I was a small boy, in the place where we 
lived, (the mountainous part of Penn.) many of 
the people were just as skeptical and mystified 
about the mind. They wondered what it was and 
v/here it v/as located, and when they were solicited 
to send their children to school, which was then 
only a subscription school, they shook their heads, 
and said: "It's all nonsense, to talk about minds 
and making them grow." Others said: "I don't 
know nothing about that foolishness them school 
people are talking about gittin up." A year or two 
later, a wonderful man came into the community ; 
they called him a "Freenologus." He was going 
to tell them w^here the mind was located; that it 
was in the head, and made up of some kind of 
stuff called brains; and made into bunches, and 
trial by feeling over the head he could tell which 
bunches w^ere the biggest, and that way he could 
tell the people what kind of business they ought 
to go into. And, in order to help the school teach- 
er along a bit, for. letting him have the school 
house to feel heads in, he told the folks that if 



20 CHRISTIANITY 

they sent their children to school, them bunches 
of minds would all grow bigger so they could do 
'most any kind of business they wanted to, when 
they got to be men. Now, as a matter of fact, our 
mieds are just as mysterious as spirits. In con- 
clusion what shall we say ? First of all, I want to 
say: that Christianity is something real and def- 
inite ; and that it is the result of man's incomplete- 
ness, and undone condition and Christ's power 
and williBgliess, to redeem and perfect him. And 
that the Christian, and He alone, is the finished 
man. I quote again from Paul — "Ye are complete 
in him/' if that be true, it follows that, out of him, 
the unchristian man, is incomplete; he is only an 
approximate to the real man. And, that man is 
endowed by God, the Eternal Spirit, with body, 
Soul and Spirit ; each of which is a gift from Him. 

The last and highest of these has been with- 
held on account of Sin, which killed the Soul, but 
is still the promise of the Father, to be fulfilled 
as soon as the Soul is made alive again in Christ. 
"Repent and be baptized into the name of Jesus 
Christ and you shall receive the gift of the Spirit''' 
which makes man complete. 

Wherefore it follows that all Christians per- 
fected men, finished men, together with Christ, 
their representative head, constitute Christianity, 
just as the first Adam and his posterity consti- 
tute humanity. Hence, the natural man, and the 
Christ-man, occupy different spheres and different 
kingdoms. The former, the natural kingdom, the 
latter the spiritual kingdom. 

The earthly man became a living soul, died 
in Sin, was made alive in Christ, obtained the 
Spirit, which is the finishing work of God the 
Father, and is there-by become one with Christ 
and one with God, viz : A Christian. 



CHAPTER IL 

Christianity, Differentia. 

We now wish to consider briefly, some things 
with which Christianity has been confounded, 
both in our minds and in our practice, and with 
which it is very closely related; 1st: Judaism, or 
legal-ism; 2nd: Theology, or theism; 3rd: Sociol- 
ogy, or moral reform; 4th: Religion, or restraint 
thru fear of som.e mysterious power over us. 

Judaism, is both a religious and a civil institu- 
tion. It ranks the highest of any religious insti 
tution in the world, and is entitled to our serious 
and careful consideration. From it we get the 
fundamental principles for the best lav/s the world 
has ever had. It has been instrumental in lifting 
the world to a higher moral plane than any other 
social or religious propaganda. It was Divine. We 
know it was divinely ordered, for thru its influ- 
ence was ushered in a new era and a new kingdom. 
Out of it came Jesus Christ, the Lord-Man, the 
Savior of Man-kind. The connecting link between 
Judaism and Christianity, is the prophecy, and 
moral-reform movem.ent of John the Baptist. It 
was not a religion in the strict sense, but rather 
a sociologic moral-reform°movem.ent, just such as 
many advocate now, promulgated and carried on 
thru vehement preaching, and moral-suasion. The 
personality, and moral and spiritual force, of 
John, the world's greatest preacher, was the chief 
factor in its propagation. It is still in active op- 
eration, and exerting a mighty influence on the 
social and moral condition of the world. 

Both the Judaistic, and the Johnistic, sys- 
tem.s, have a theology running thru them, which 
is pecuharly and distinctively their own, viz: 
Monotheism. The theology of, the world, can be 
put into two great divisions, under which all minor 
divisions can be classified: The one is Polytheism, 

21 



22 CHRISTIANITY 

(many Gods). The other is Monotheism, (one 
God). In the Bible, God is frequently called, the 
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; also the God 
of Israel ; and by various other names, all in some 
way pointing to the Supreme and Infinite Ruler 
of the Universe. None of these systems which I 
have named, nor all of them combined, constitute 
Christianity. They are essentially and entirely 
distinct from it. This, however, is true in regard 
to them: They did help to prepare the soil, in 
which Christianity might take root and grow. 
They did prepare the wa3^ for, and lead up to it. 
They cleared the field, removed the underbrush 
and rubbish so that the seed of the new kingdom 
could be planted. 

John gives warning to all men, that *'the 
kingdom is at hand," and that ''the axe is laid 
at the root of the trees; that every thing that 
does not bring forth good results, i. e. that does 
not "bear good fruit," will be cut down and be 
burned up. He heralds the coming of the new 
landlord, who will plant only "good seed" in the 
field, which is the world. 

The law is the World's Schoolmaster to bring 
men to Christ, i. e. it gives a course of discipline 
which seems absolutely necessary to prepare men 
to receive Christ, and become a part of His King- 
dom. The world is so engrossed in wickedness, 
and men every where are so obsessed with the evil 
spirit, that some powerful restraint is necessary 
to arrest them and get their attention and bring 
them to their senses, in order that the new and 
better and higher life can be presented to them. 

It ought to be clear now that altho there is a 
certain relation existing between these — Legalism, 
Socialism, Moralism— and Christianity, they are 
not identical with, nor are they any part of Christ- 
ianity. The thing that has puzzled most men, and 
even Christians themselves, is to get a clear dis- 



CHRISTIANITY 23 

tinction between religion and Christianity. Indeed 
tiiere are very few of those who have made com- 
parative religion a study, but that regard Christ- 
ianity as one, of the hundreds of religions of the 
world. In making their comparisons they all place 
it at the head of the list. Altho some of them 
rank Confucianism and Zoroasterism on a par 
with it, in som.e respects. The difficulty is that 
they have been trying to compare things that are 
different in kind ; tho having some things in com- 
mon. 

It is not a religion, either in the common 
accepted sense, nor yet in the etymological sense. 
The word religion is derived from the Latin word 
religare, which means to bind back; i. e. to re- 
strain or hold in check; so that, in the original 
language, any ordinance, rule, or custom, which 
placed restraint on people, would be religion. But 
it came to be applied to any influence of the gods 
or fates ; so that people were afraid to do certani 
things, lest the gods would be angry, and send 
some calamity upon them. 

Many of us remember when we, as children, 
were told that the ''Badman" would get us if we 
were not careful about things we said and did. 
There is no doubt but that much that we were 
taught had a restraining influence on our conduct, 
and was, ''so far, so good." There certainly is 
very urgent need of restraint along some lines of 
conduct among us, today; here and every where. 

Those of us, who say that the crying need of 
the world is religion, i. e. restraint and a check on 
some of the bad things that people are doing, are 
saying the right thing. It needs, however, to be 
shown and explained how and why that swift and 
terrible retribution will follow if there is no re- 
straint. Wickedness brings its own damnation. 
That is religion, but not Christianity. Then you 
ask: "What is it?" Christianity is a life* A new 



24 CHRISTIANITY 

kind of life, in which the impulses and inclinations, 
the likes and dislikes, the aspirations and incen- 
tives, have all been changed; so that, what we 
before inclined to, we now abhor, what we once 
loved, we now hate, and what we once hated, we 
now love. ''Because thou hast loved righteous- 
ness and hated iniquity, God, even thy God, hath 
highly exalted thee." The new man, or Christian, 
loves the good and inclines to it. ''His delight is 
in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he 
meditate day and night." On the other hand, "the 
carnal mind is enmity against God, and is not sub- 
ject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be." 

It is the "more abundant life;'' fuller, richer, 
more enduring. It is made up of Christ, the head, 
and all who become "new creatures" in Christ. It 
differs from all forms and types of religion, in 
this, that all religion whether high or low, good 
or bad, is something that we learn, and then prac- 
tice; while Christianity is something that we be- 
come, and then live. Christianity has a religion, 
"pure and undefiled," and in keeping with its high 
plane of life. Jas : 1-27. 

All religions are isms; the product of man's 
mind. 

Christianity holds the same kind of relation 
to humanity, that humanity does to brutality. 
Humanity is incomplete, and imperfect ; its repre- 
sentative head is the first Adam. 

A Christian is a man as he ought to be : com- 
plete. 

The essentials of Christianity are set forth 
in terms of biology; the essentials of religion, in 
terms of ethics and escatology. It is folly, to try 
to compare things that are incomparable; hence, 
Christianity should not, and cannot consistently, 
be classed in with the study of, "Comparative 
Religion." 

The effort to do so, has clouded our concep- 



CHRISTIANITY 25 

tion, and hindered our teaching of it. Christianity 
says : yes, "the life is more than the meat, and the 
body is more than the raiment." Rehgion says: 
"meat and raiment first ;'* "the life will come out 
of the meat; and the body will come into the 
raiment." 

The very best religion in the world, which in 
our estimation is Judaism, only changes the man- 
ner of living, the outward conduct, in its followers. 
Christianity changes the souMife of its members. 
They get new powers of life, new loves and new 
hates, new hopes and aspirations; and are pos- 
sessed of a new spirit and guiding-star. A new 
song, also, breaks forth from their lips, and a new 
joy fills their hearts. Religion seeks a God "afar 
off," and transcendent. "Whom ye ignorantly 
worship. Him declare I unto you.'' Saul. 

Christianity feels God, near by and imminent ; 
as well as transcendent. Religion is man "feeling 
after God, if haply he might find Him." Christ- 
ianity, is God seeking man. "He came to seek and 
to save that which was lost." Religion, at its 
best, is man wending his weary waj^ back toward 
God. Christianity is, "the Father meeting him, 
yet a long way off; embracing, kissing, forgiving 
and reinstating him." It is man, "made alive 
from the dead." it is, "God manifest in the flesh." 
A religion, must be suited to a particular age, peo- 
ple, and condition of life. Christianity, reaches 
all ages, peoples, and conditions. 

A man may be religious, and still have the 
carnal mind; he cannot be a Christian and have 
the carnal mind. "If any man have not the spirit 
of Christ, he is none of His." A person may be 
too religious ; he cannot be too Christian. Religion 
is changeable, and may become obsolete. 

Christianity is unchangeable, and eternal. It 
is not fair to ask the heathen to exchange their 
religion for ours, even tho we believe ours to be 



26 CHEISTIANITY 

better. It is right, that we should ask them to 
accept "the Christ, who is theirs, as well as ours ; 
and let Him transform their lives and also their 
religion. 

Anyone can have religion and not be a Christ- 
ian, but he cannot practice the Christian's religion 
without first becoming a Christian. 

The preacher may convert a man to a given 
religion, but he cannot convert him to Christian- 
ity. Religion is egotistic. Its devotee is promised 
a reward, and salvation for self. Christianity ?s 
altruistic, **no man liveth unto himself." Its in- 
dividual member is promised bonds and persecu- 
tion, with the humiliation and sacrifice of self, 
for the uplift and salvation of others but with it 
life and joy. Religion is man seeking and implor- 
ing God, that he may receive service from God. 
That is the trend of the religionist's prayers, that 
God shall do something for him; he ''thanks God 
he is not as other men." Christianity is God seek- 
ing and persuading man; that He may receive 
obedience and service from man. "Be ye recon- 
ciled to God." Religion supposes thai God will 
yield to man's petitions. The religionist makes 
long prayers so as to impress God with his wants. 
Christianity asserts that man must first yield to 
God's will and commands. He is Head of the fam- 
ily. "Submit yourselves therefore unto God." 
"Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of 
God." 

A religion is an organization and gets its life- 
energy from its members. Christianity is an or- 
ganism and gives life-energy to its members. Re- 
ligion has its origin in a man ; Christianity has its 
origin in a seed. See Gal. 3:16, John 12:24, Acts 
8 :33 and Isa. 54 :8. In our Bible, and in our teach- 
ings, we have Judaism, a religion, still attached 
to Christianity, as tho it were a part of it. Juda- 
ism, is the shadow, it is typical. Christianity is 



CHRISTIANITY 27 

the real substance; Judaism, is the plan; Christ- 
ianity is the structure. They should always be 
studied as distinct and separate. 

No state or nation should hesitate to put the 
study of Christianity, (not religion) into all of its 
schools. It cannot mislead or wrong anyone. Re- 
ligion, at most, only reforms men and then leaves 
them in their old environment to again become 
filthy. Christianity transforms men and lifts 
them into a new environment, so that they can 
remain clean. ''Our citizen-ship is in Heaven.'' 

Christianity resurrects men, i. e., makes them 
able to arise and stand erect. "I am the resurrec- 
tion and the life." Christianity is in the world, 
but it is separate and apart from the world, a 
city on a hill, a light on a candlestick. Religion 
tries to get men to act contrary to their impulses 
and inclinations. Christianity first changes the 
spirit or bent of the mind, so that men may fol- 
low their inclinations and still do right, to find 
delight in doing right. 

Religion saves and protects the Shepherd; 
and lets the Sheep look out for themselves. Christ- 
ianity sacrifices the comfort and convenience, and 
even the life, of the Shepherd for the protection 
and safety of the sheep. "The good shepherd 
layeth down his life for the sheep." Religion 
recognizes and points men to God. Christianity 
"shows us the Father" and brings us into inti- 
mate relationship with Him. Christianity says: 
"I came that you might have life, and that you 
might have it more abundant." Religionists al- 
ways want to have a "revival of religion." Christ- 
ians want to have a revival of the Christ-life, or 
of Christianity. 

In the foregoing comparisons, or rather con- 
trasts, of religion and Christianity we have con- 
sidered religion at its best. At its worst, we all 
know that it is low, sensual, debasing, devilish. 



28 CHRISTIANITY 

Religion has done the worst and most degrading 
things the world has ever experienced. Christian- 
ity is always true to its aim and purpose : "Salva- 
tion, Righteousness, Peace and Joy, through the 
Holy Spirit;" and the end Eternal Life through 
Jesus Christ." — Amen. 



CHAPTER III. 
Christianity Applied. 

Down to business, with its everyday clothes 
on. 

First of all we must remember what we are 
dealing with. It is a life, but it is a communal 
life, made up of many individual lives. Man, be- 
cause he has risen to a higher plane does not 
cease to be gregarious in his habits. As a Christ- 
ian, he is even more closely and intimately as- 
sociated with his fellows. He gives greater care 
and closer consideration for the comfort and well 
being of his neighbor, indeed that is one of the 
marked distinctions of the higher life. Men can- 
not live happily and contentedly together unless 
they are actuated by some higher motive than 
selfishness; and human nature does not and can- 
not rise above it. The highest possible attainment 
on the human plane is the ''Golden rule:'' ''What- 
soever ye would that men should do to you, do ye 
even unto them like wise." This is fulfilling of 
the law. Nothing in it of "loving your enemies,'' 
or "doing good to them that hate you," or "pray- 
ing for them that despitefully use you and perse- 
cute you." Because "love worketh no ill to his 
neighbor," it is also a fulfilling of the law, but that 
is only the negative side of love. It has a posi- 
tive side also. Love lifts up the fallen, it relieves 
distress, it is kind, it soothes the sorrowing, and 
assuages grief, it pours in the healing balm to re- 
lieve suffering, whether it be physical, mental or 
moral. 

Paul's statement: "Be kindly affeetioned one 
to another, in honor, preferring one another," is 
useless advice to any but Christians. The world 
cannot receive it. Men everywhere could apply 
the "Golden Rule" if they desired and purposed in 

29 



30 CHRISTIANITY 

their hearts to do so, but there is not '*the wilUng 
mind/' They do not desire ''to look also on the 
things of others." Their own interests occupy all 
their time and attention. Altruism is not found in 
their vocabulary. 

It must be evident that since Christianity oc- 
cupies a different sphere, and stands on a higher 
plane, that its rules of conduct and its ethical 
standard should be higher than that of the world. 
''The world will love its own.'' And it resents any- 
thing that assumes to be higher or better. The 
average church organization scarcely rises above 
the world's standard in moral conduct. So we see 
there must be some difficulty in applying it to so- 
cietj^ as we find it. 

There is at the present time a great cry for 
practical Christianity, as tho anyone could just 
practice it without having it. The laws of the 
state do not allow anyone to practice medicine 
until he has given satisfactory evidence that he 
has the knowledge to qualify him to practice, be- 
cause it would be dangerous to the people for him 
to undertake to practice what he did not know. 
And so it is when the worldling undertakes to 
practice Christianity. He not only fails, but he 
becomes a menace to the social welfare of the 
community. It's folly to talk about society or 
people of the world applying Christianity in their 
business affairs. It is not done and it cannot be 
done, until there is a change in their nature. 
"First make the tree good, and the fruit will be 
good." You cannot make an orchard to produce 
only good fruit unless you make every individual 
tree in that orchard good. So also we cannot 
have social conduct only good, or all good, except 
as we make each individual of that society good. 
It is altogether a slow and tedious process, but 
it is worth while to make the effort. Now how 
shall we as Christians set about applying our 



CHRISTIANITY 31 

Christian principles, so that it will enhance our 
own well-being and happiness and also be a light 
to the v/orld, and as salt to the earth? I know, 
we could do no better thing than to study care- 
fully Christ's sermon on the mount, and then con- 
tradict and refute Bob Ingersol and every infidel 
disciple of his, who says : ''Yes, it's very nice ; but 
impracticable," by actually living it out in every 
day conduct among ourselves. Can we do it? Yes, 
thank God for his matchless grace, we can. The 
first step is to take Christ at his word. When he 
says to us: ''Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and 
his righteousness." Lets us do it. Let us make it 
the first and most important thing of all life's 
duties. And when he says : "All these other need- 
ful things will be added to you" let us believe him, 
for He is able to make all grace abound, so that we 
may have all sufficience. 

It is not possible to enumerate all the things 
that a Christian ought to do, but we can indicate 
enough to show that his rule of life and conduct 
is, and must be, higher than any civil or moral 
code can give us. Christianity does not disregard 
the civil law. Christ said: ''Think not that I 
came to destroy the law or the prophets, I came 
not to destroy but to fulfill." 

Just here we might consider what Paul said 
about being free from the law. A Christian is free 
from the civil law, only as he fulfills by doing all 
that the law requires, from Christian principles 
and impulses. The law is intended to make peo- 
ple do what is just and right. The Christian does 
that, because it is the natural inclination of his 
life. So he is free from the law. He has obeyed 
it from the Spirit that is in him, without ever 
knowing the letter of the law." They say: "it 
takes all kinds of people to make a world." That 
may be so ; but it takes only one kind to make the 
kingdom of heaven. Do you ask then : "If all men 



32 CHEISTIANITY 

were Christian, could the civil laws of the land all 
be done away with ? I answer yes, most certainly, 
because they would become a dead letter and use- 
less. Now^ someone wants to ask another ques- 
tion: Are not Christians commanded to be sub- 
ject to the laws of the land in which they live? 
1 again say yes, for in every land there are still 
lawless people, and we as Christians must recog- 
nize civil authority both for the sake of civil jus- 
tice and also for our own protection. We ought 
to help make and sustain the best possible laws. 
There seems, at the present time, and under pres- 
ent world conditions, to be a two-fold authority 
over us, the civil and the divine. We must *'rend- 
er to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to 
God the things that are God's." They seldom ever 
conflict, but when they do, we must '*obey God 
rather than man." In the early history of the 
church such conflicts were more common, and 
many good men and women too gave up their lives 
rather than to disobey God. 

The Christian law of love and good will, stand 
the test of all circumstances and conditions, for 
''love worketh no ill to his neighbor." 'It is kind, 
it is sympathetic and helpful, it helps to bear an- 
other's burdens, it never fails." The civil courts 
are supposed to settle law cases in the spirit of the 
law ; sometimes that differs slightly from the let- 
ter of the law. I might sight some easy case. 
The road law requires that in passing vehicles, 
each one turn to the right, but as has occurred 
to me several times, in meeting a man with a load 
coming up grade and I with no load going down, 
if the good beaten track was on my side I turned 
to the left to give him with the load the solid 
track. Did I violate the law? Another, the law 
forbids me to force open the doors or windows 
of my neighbor's house. I see him gather up his 
family and drive away. An hour later, as I pass 



CHRISTIANITY 33 

the house I see smoke coming from a crack in 
the kitchen window. I go around the house and 
look in ; beside the stove I see fire on the floor. I 
try the door, it is locked ; doors all locked, windows 
all fastened down. I grab a bucket of water from, 
the well, throw my weight against the door, force 
it open, extinguish the fire that had already 
burned a large hole in the floor. Am I guilty of 
house-breaking ? The purpose of law is to protect 
a man's property. I damaged his door, I broke 
his lock, did I protect his property or did I destroy 
it ? I want us to see that v/e must act under the 
higher moral impulse even tho we violate the 
letter of the law, and in doing so we are not law- 
less citizens. I might have shifted responsibility 
by going on about my own business. We say : 
''Look not every man on his-own things but also 
on the things of others." 

We have on the merely human plane, three 
well marked classes: The lawless class; the law 
abiding class, and the moral class, those who pride 
themselves in "doing right because it is right." 
They need no religion, and they brook no re- 
straint ; they need no law and they want no Lord, 

The legalist also prides himself because he 
is a law abiding citizen. He goes down to Jericho 
in his automobile, he pays his own bills and ob- 
serves the laws of the road, but, on the way he 
came up to a woman carrying a basket on one arm 
and leading a little boy by the other. As he ap- 
proaches them he honks-honks for them to get out 
of the good track into the mud or snow while he 
whizzes past. He does not see the forlorn look on 
their faces as their hope of a restful ride vanishes 
with him and his machine in the distance. As he 
approaches the city he meets a man who hails him 
with this question: "Did you pass a woman and 
little boy coming this way?" He scratches his 
head and says: "Yes, I believe I did." "Well, all 



84 CHRISTIANITY 

right, that's my sister and her boy, Tm going to 
meet them and help them along, Good-day, Good- 
day.'' No, there was no law that required him to 
stop his machine and pick up *'foot-pads,'' but, 
just the same his conscience bothered him a little, 
especially if it was the first time. But there's no 
law. What would one of the other class the law- 
less class, do? Just the same, except that he 
would stop long enough with the woman to filch 
her basket and her hand-bag. Now some of you 
wonder what your ''so called," Christian would do. 
Well, if you leave off that ''so called," I'll tell you 
what he would do. In the first place he would 
not honk, but slow up and turn out to the side to 
make it convenient for them to get in; he would 
stop, look pleasant, and in kindly tones would ask 
if she and the boy would care to ride with them, 
and if his car seemed already full, he would kindly 
ask Charlie if he would not step out and ride on 
the fender and let the lady have his seat; and 
Charlie would. When reaching her destination 
he w^ould accept her thanks as good pay, and ask : 
is there anything else I can do for you? "Yes, if 
you please, you may tell my brother, down at the 
shop, that I am here:" "I'll be glad to do so." 
Now, take that and thousands of similar incidents 
in every day life and we get some small conception 
of practical Christianity. There is a higher and 
broader range of Christianity, that we can only 
touch upon. Indeed it is scarcely understood, 
except by those who not only have the Christ life, 
but who have a deep rich experience in the Christ- 
ian life: for all Christians are not the same size, 
any more than other men. They grow, or ought 
to grow, from babyhood to manhood, constantly 
aDproaching the stature of the manhood of the 
Master, Jesus Christ. 

We get glimpses of it in the Sermon on the 
Mount. Blessed, (Happy) are they that hunger 



CHRISTIANITY 35 

and thirst after Righteousness. How many hung- 
er and thirst, i. e. have a real craving for right- 
eousness. That is the foundation of God's throne." 
*'A scepter of righteousness, is the scepter of thy 
kingdom.'' If we could conceive of God departing 
in the slightest degree from right and justice, 
then we might think of Him losing his throne in 
the universe. God's authority and power is not ar- 
bitrary. Christ does not hold supremacy in his 
kingdom, because of superior power and greatness, 
but because of righteousness. Every thought, 
every word, every deed, every command, of his 
must be absolutely right. Therefore when we 
hunger for righteousness, we "hunger for the liv- 
ing God." We hunger for the living Christ and 
His kingdom. And, "we shall be filled." How in- 
sufficient, how unsatisfying, how unworthy is the 
craving for dollars and diamonds, for gaudy gar- 
ments and grandeur, for property and pretty play 
things. When asked the question: "Is not the 
life more than the meat, and the body more than 
the raiment." Men say: "No, I believe not." When 
asked to "seek the kingdom and righteousness of 
God first," they say: "No," "we are very much oc- 
cupied with business affairs just now." If they 
only knew how much better their business mat- 
ters would fit into second place; Our Heavenly 
Father knows that we need to be "diligent in busi- 
ness" and to be "providing for our own house- 
holds," but he can help us along so much better 
if we put first things first. "All these things shall 
be added unto you." We have another example 
in that sermon, of doing first things, first: "If 
therefore, thou are offering thy gift at the altar 
and there remembreth that thy brother hath 
aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the 
altar go thy way, first be reconciled to thy broth- 
er, then come and offer thy gift." God wants the 
best we have to offer, but he will not accept an 



36 CHRISTIANITY 

offering from us while we are owing our brother 
something that ought to be settled first. Just 
what does that passage teach ? In brief it teach- 
es, to me at least, that we as Christians must be 
just with our fellowman before we are generous 
with God. **Owe no man anything, save that you 
love one another," *'If one loves not his brother, 
whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom 
he hath not seen." Let us not forget that a gift 
is always an expression of love. God so loved that 
he gave. John 3:16. We ought always to express 
our love by giving. But we should not rob a 
brother's hen-roost to give a pot-pie dinner even 1 
to the king. My brother has the first claim to my | 
love and considers Uon. He comes in before the \ 
God of the Universe. "By this shall all men know^ j 
that you are my disciples if you have love for 
one another.'' Time fails us, to quote from all the 
Master's lessons to his disciples. Here are a few j 
quoted just at random: "Whatsoever ye do, in ^ 
word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord 
Jesus," loyalty. "As you have opportunity, do 
good to all men, especially to the house-hold of 
faith," General and special beneficence. As much 
as lieth in you live peaceably with all men,'' 
Don't retaliate. "If your enemy hunger, feed 
him, if he thirst give him drink; (water of course) 
for in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his 
head." What do you know about that? Why, 
you will make him bow to you, whether he was 
before inclined to do so or not. "Let not sin 
reign in your mortal bodies that you should obey 
the desires thereof," Self-control, especially of 
bodily appetites and passions. "Rejoice always 
and again I say unto you rejoice," Keep sweet and 
wholesome under all circumstances. "Walk in the 
spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the desires of the 
flesh." Don't forget that you are a Christian, 
and that your citizenship is in heaven. 



CHRISTIANITY 37 

"Have faith in God." 
"Be ye perfect." 
"Amen." 



CHAPTER IV. 
Christianity and Education. 

In talking or writing on any subject, the first 
thing is to have a clear understanding of the 
words used in the subject. So in this our present 
subject, we want to know what we mean by 
Christianity and also by Education. 

The term Christianity is generally used in a 
very loose and indefinite way, sometimes as re- 
ligion, sometimes as the whole crowd of followers 
of Jesus Christ, whether they are really getting 
and imbibing His teaching or not. You know that 
in His earthly career, a part of the time, He had 
multitudes of followers, but the number of true 
disciples was never very large, and at the close 
when the testing time came, they were few in 
number. Some think it is synonymous with the 
church; and there are other vague conceptions 
which we need not mention. 

To us, in this discussion, it means Jesus 
Christ together with all of His Family, who have 
been ^'begotten not of the will of the flesh nor 
of the will of Man, but of God." Isaiah said: 
''Who shall estimate his generation" i. e. who shall 
number his progeny or tell the number of his 
family. It seemed at first as tho he would not' 
have any, "For he was cut-off from the land of 
the living." At another time Isaiah said: Of the 
increase of his Government and peace there shall 
be no end." John the Baptist said : "He must in- 
crease but I must decrease." The Apostle John 
saw, in the revelation made to him, his family, "as 
an innumerable company." 

The number at the present time may seem 
comparatively small, but we must remember that 
it is still very young, made up mostly of babies 
and immature children. It has eternity for growth 

38 



CHPvISTIANITY 39 

and expansion. They all have the mind of Christ, 
and all hcive the Spirit of Christ, which in reality 
means to have ^'Christ in them." 

No man is a part of Christianity who does 
not have the Christ life in him. It is something 
very definite, and distinct from any other kind 
of life that we have ever heretofore known. It is 
transmitted to us from God thru Christ, who 
transforms our human nature, or the natural 
man, into the Christ-Man or Christian. So that, 
we who are so changed no longer *'live after the 
flesh but after the spirit.'' 

Education, by the etymology of the word, 
means to lead-out or m.ake to grow and develop. 
Something like the plant or tree is made to grow 
from a seed. Education is applied to the mind 
just as cultivation is applied in farming. The 
husbandman m.akes the soil bring forth something 
that it would not do unaided. The Educator helps 
the mind to yield what it would not otherwise do. 
Both are capable of being enriched, and both are 
receptive of good seed or of bad seed, also as in 
the soil w^eeds or worthless growth come spontan- 
eously if good useful seed is not planted and cul- 
tivated, so in the mind evil or vain thoughts will 
come up if good seed-thots are not implanted and 
fostered. Education cannot create anything. It 
can reform but it cannot transform. It cannot 
give life, but only foster the growth of that which 
already has the germ of life in it. 

The mind cannot of itself bring forth the best 
and most valuable thots and ideas, unless good 
seed-thots are implanted. So that the most im- 
portant matter of education is the eradication of 
bad thots and inclinations and instilling good ones, 
and then fostering and caring for the good so that 
the bad cannot take root again. 

We must not leave this part of the subject 
without considering the very important item of 



40 CHRISTIANITY 

environment, or the surrounding influences that 
either contribute to, or detract from our educa- 
tional efforts. 

I believe it was Emerson who said: *'We send 
our child to school, but the boys on the way to and 
from educate him." 

Clean fields surrounding yours make it easy 
for you to keep your field clean, but foul ones 
next to yours make your task hard. So, bad as- 
sociates of pupils, hinder a good teacher's efforts. 
He cannot get as good results. We have been in 
the habit of speaking of Christian education as 
tho it were something apart, and different from 
education in general. While Christianity is some- 
thing very distinct from humanity, it is not dis- 
tinct frOjM man. It is the highest attainment of 
man. Some philologist has discovered, or claims 
to have discovered, that according to the etymol- 
ogy of the word, human means thinking animal. 
Whether any one has found it by studying the 
origin and meaning of the words, or not, it is a 
patent fact that abstract thot or thinking to a 
purpose, is what marks the distinction between 
the human animal and all lower animals. 

There is also the well known fact, that man 
is more than a thinking animal. Therefore, when 
we consider the development and education of 
man, we must take into account all that belongs 
to him as man, and not merely as human. Hence 
when we speak of Christian education we mean 
only that the developm.ent of Christian Character 
is an essential part of the education of man and 
that without it man cannot be considered well 
educated. 

We were taught in the schools that there are 
five races of men, the white, red, yellow, brown 
and black. That division is arbitrary and based 
on non-essential differences. In fact, man is di- 
vided into two races, each having essential points 



CIIPvISTIANITY 41 

of difference which cannot be mistaken; the hu- 
man race and the Christian race. 

Here we are hkely to be misunderstood and 
criticized. The distinction between Human (the 
natural man), and Christian (the spiritual man), 
is based entirely on the teaching of Jesus and the 
Apostles. *'Ye must be born again" — that which 
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is 
born of the Spirit is Spirit.'' 'If any man be in 
Christ Jesus, he is a new creature, old things 
have passed away." 

'They that are after the flesh do mind the 
things of the flesh; but, they that are after the 
Spirit, the things of the Spirit/' 'The natural 
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God : 
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he 
know them, etc." — "But we have the mind of 
Christ." 

"The carnal mind (the human mind) is not 
subject to the law of God." Only through fear of 
punishment can it be made subject even to civil 
law. Many more passages point to the distinc- 
tions between the two. 

If we go back to the primitive or early man, 
we would have to prefix another division. And 
since the physical is receiving almost as much at- 
tention in our schools as the mental, and more 
than the spiritual, it might be well to include it in 
our curriculum of education. 

So now we have the complete man, physical, 
mental and spiritual; body, soul and spirit (man). 

We all know^ that there was a time when the 
physical was considered the important part of a 
man — indeed, there are many who think so yet. 
The fact that a demonstration of purely physical 
strength and endurance, a pugilistic demonstra- 
tion, will attract thousands; while a demonstra- 
tion of mental ability will only attract hundreds; 
and a demonstration of real spiritual power will 



42 CHRISTIANITY 

scarcely get the attention of scores ; and that dol- 
lars are paid for admission to the first, dimes to 
the second, and only pennies to the last, points 
clearly to the estimates we hold of man's powers 
and endowments. 

It is not the purpose in this discourse to say 
which of these component parts of man, is of the 
greatest im_portance and highest value; that may 
depend on w^hat is required of him at the time. 

True it is, that among the primitive tribes of 
the earth, the man who could wield the biggest 
club, and by physical force bring into subjec- 
tion the largest number of his fellow-mxen, was 
the hero of the hour. Later, as m^an progresses 
and the intellect comes into prominence, the man 
of power and influence is the one who can move 
and sway his fellow-men by the power of his mind 
and his magnetic oratory. Last of all, we find 
men exerting a power and influence over their 
fellow-men, which is neither physical nor yet is 
it intellectual — it is Spiritual. It is the education, 
the development of ail man's faculties that we are 
considering. 

We admit that these three endowments be- 
long to man; we admit further, that they are all 
capable of larger development. Hence, a man to 
be at his best, must not only be in possession of 
all three, but must have all of them developed to 
their fullest capacity. 

We may have schools for physical training, 
and schools for mental discipline, and also schools 
for spiritual culture and growth. But no special 
school should ignore the three-fold powers in man ; 
and no school should rank as a university, 
that does not give to each one of them the time 
and attention that is needful for its highest de- 
velopment. And no public scliool ought to be sup- 
ported by all the people, which does not recognize 
and make some effort for the education of all three 



CHRISTIANITY 43 

of these God given powers. 

Just here, the old puzzHng question comes up 
again for solution — Can we educate a person into 
a Christian ? Here we need to be careful, but we 
need not hesitate. The question is a fair one and 
I think, can be fairly and clearly answered. We 
must adhere absolutely to the things and condi- 
tions of men, as we find them. We need not even 
discuss the story of how or why these things and 
conditions were brot about, or the causes of 
them. We need only to observe the being we 
call a man, and take note of the trend of his ac- 
tions, both physical and mental (psychical) to see 
that there is a great and fatal defect in his char- 
acter; and that that defect, precedes and pre- 
cludes the gift of his highest power, viz: the 
Spiritual. 

The final outcome, and the clear results, of 
man's life, are not v/hat God intended nor what 
we expect and demand. It is not that he fails to 
produce something, but he fails to bring forth 
that which is good and right. 

Education always increases man's ability to 
accomplish things; whatever he sets out to do, it 
brings larger results. If he is doing bad things, 
or if he is doing good things ; in either case, he ac- 
complishes larger results. Now, that may be clear 
to many of you, but that it may become apparent 
to all, I will illustrate — Some of you know what 
quack grass is. For those who do not know, I 
will say: It is a nice-looking, rank-growing kind 
of grass ; in appearance not unlike blue grass and 
red top. It takes full possession of the soil and 
chokes out every other kind of vegetation. It 
grows on every kind of soil. To enrich and culti- 
vate makes it grow ranker and stronger; but the 
unfortunate thing about it is that it is worthless. 
Stock will not eat it. It contains no nourishment. 
Now what must be done in the case of a field of 



44 CHRISTIANITY 

quack grass? We know that the chief and first 
consideration in grass, as m everything else, is 
quality. If the quality is right, then the larger 
the quantity the better ; but if the quality is bad, 
then the greater the quantity the worse. And so 
is in human life the product is worthless, so 
far as quality is concerned. 

What we, as Christians, regard as the essen- 
tial qualities are righteousness, peace and joy. 
Then the out-put of a life, however large, and 
whate^.^er other elements it might contain, if it 
does not have these in it, is considered worthless. 

Some things may seem all right, and we pro- 
ceed to cultivate them, thinking that that will 
make them better; but it only increases the 
amount, and makes nothing good. We are destined 
to die, for want of that which justifies life. We 
must have a "right to the tree of life," by yielding 
good fruit. 

It is then, after all, not so much a question 
of whether we are educated or uneducated, good 
or bad ; neither is it a question of Heaven or Hell, 
but it is a question of life or death. 

Sin, however we may define it, or whatever 
our estimates of it may be, brings death, just as 
surely as leprosy or the w^hite plague. Then I 
say: ''men and brethern what must we do?" 

To the farmer who has quack-grass in his 
field, there is only one word to say, that is: era- 
dicate. He can't grow anything good till that is 
done and done thoroughly. And any means that 
will do the work of eradication is a God-send to 
him. For as a farmer, he is undone. 

So also, where Sin has taken root in the hu- 
man soul there is only one word: eradicate. It 
would be bad enough if only one life here and 
there in the human family, were infected; but 
when everyone is included, how glad should be 
the tidings that a means of eradication was dis- 



CHRISTIANITY 45 

covered and made known. 

The remedy has been made known, and is 
available ; but how few take advantage of it. Now, 
there seems to have been some digression from 
the leading thot, but how could we have pro- 
ceeded to answer the question — ''Can we educate 
a man into a Christian?" — Without knowing his 
condition ? 

Now we can answer by saying, no. And the 
reason ought to be clear to every one, that the ef- 
fort to do so only increases the power to do evil. 

A bad man un-educated can do little harm., 
but a bad man educated can do much harm. You 
perhaps ask then — Should we with-hold education 
from our children lest they turn out to be bad? 
I say, no. The preceding reference was to the 
adult, already infected with evil. 

Right here, I hope to be able to make the gist 
of this article clear, or my efforts will have been 
in vain. Let me first ask an analogous question 
— should we hesitate to cultivate and fertilize 
our fields lest noxious weeds grow more abundant 
in them? The child-mind is not bad, but is like 
virgin soil. There is nothing evil in it, and there 
is nothing good in it. The children of Christian 
parents are clean, (see I Cor. 7:14) i. e. their 
minds are uncontaminated, they are in condition 
to receive good impressions or bad ones. Hence 
the very great and urgent need of implanting the 
good, and then so caring for and educating it that 
there is no chance for evil to take root. Love, 
gentleness, kindness, righteousness, peace and joy, 
take root easily now. The Master called atten- 
tion to the need of a clean seedbed, when He said : 
"except you become as little children you shall in 
no wise enter into the kingdom of Heaven." 
Hearts or minds already infected with evil must 
be cleansed. ''A good man out of the good treas- 
ure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is 



46 CHRISTIANITY 

good, but a bad man, out of the evil treasure of 
his heart, bringetK forth that which is evil." 

The means, and manner of cleansing were 
laid down by the Master and have been proven by 
actual demonstration from that time down to the 
present. The leper says to Jesus Christ: ''if thou 
wilty thou canst make me clean." Jesus says: '1 
will, be thou clean." He found, and all his co- 
workers have found, just what every good farmer 
knows, that the hardest work is clearing and get- 
ting the soil ready for the "good seed" that he 
wants to plant. After the clearing and planting, 
then there is the double-work of cultivating the 
crop and preventing the growth of weeds. 

You ask one man why he cultivates his corn 
and he will say ''to keep the weeds down." An- 
other will say: "I cultivate to make the corn 
grow." While the same act does both, I think the 
latter is the better reason. Just trying to keep 
down evil is an endless and profitless task, any 
way you want to apply it. I will give just a little 
incident here : when visiting an aunt several years 
ago, two neighbor ladies called one morning, and 
in the conversation their work in the garden was 
discussed ( it was nearing mid-summer,) one said: 
"Well, I just leave my morning work in the house 
and go out and pull weeds in the garden while it is 
cool. The other one said: "No, I don't leave my 
morning dishes for the flies ; when I get my morn- 
ing work done, if I feel like it, I work in the garden 
if not, I don't." "But, don't the weeds take your 
garden ?" "Yes, they are getting pretty thick ; but 
I guess the cabbage and potatoes will make some- 
thing anyway." 

No sooner had they taken leave, than my 
aunt turned with a rather derisive smile and said : 
"Those women have great times keeping their 
gardens. They neither one raise much of any- 
thing, and do a lot of work too." My wife said: 



CHRISTIANITY 47 

"Aunt, how do you manage it, you always have 
such a good garden?'* ''Well,'' she said: ''I never 
have to pull weeds in the morning or any other 
time, and there are no flies to set around on my 
dishes either. When I plant anything, I hoe and 
cultivate it often enough that never a weed comes 
up. It doesn't take long, and it is not nearly so 
hard as pulling weeds, and then I get something 
for my work." 

I said to my wife, ''that is good, go thou and 
do likewise," she said: "and you too." Yes, and 
so I am trying it ; and it works fine in the Lord's 
Garden. Start clean and keep clean, by constant 
care and attention. 

Let the watch-word of all our educational in- 
stitutions be cleanliness and efficiency. They go 
together; in the garden, and also in the school. 
As that good aunt said, we get satisfactory re- 
sults. 

The work of Christianity is first getting the 
the good seed planted in the heart (life), then 
cultivating and educating carefully until results 
are obtained. 

Education, rightly understood, is Christianity 
in its outw^orking. God "works in us." We "work 
out our own Salvation," with care and painstaking. 

The work of education is from below up, but 
the estimate of value is from above down. "First 
the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn 
in the ear." We are pleased when the wheat fields 
gr^en-up in the Springtime; later the waving 
stalks are a delight as the wind sweeps over the 
fields, but, after all, it is the golden grain that 
our hearts wait for. 

Just so, in the development of our own lives, 
it is the fruitage we desire; "the full corn in the 
ear." First the body, then the mind, and then the 
"fruit of the spirit,'' which is "love, joy, peace, 
forbearance, gentleness, goodness, faith, meek- 



48 CHRISTIANITY 

ness, self-control/' 

Every life must end up in the spirit, or else 
it is fruitless. And an education, that does not 
round up a Christian character, is a failure. 

And any school that does not include the 
teachings of Jesus Christ, who was the greatest 
teacher, and the highest authority the world ever 
had, will never reach the highest standard as an 
educational institution. Our schools ought to 
make strong men, they ought to make s;mart men, 
but above all they ought to make good men. The 
transforming touch of Christianity ought to be in 
evidence, in every institution, and in every indus- 
try, and in every home, in all this beloved land of 
ours which from its beginning has been called a 
Christian land. The goal of both Christianity and 
education is right living, right thinking, right do- 
ing. 

Good actions are possible, only when preceded 
by good thots and good impulses are possible, only 
when suggested and impelled by the good spirit. 
''If ye being evil, know how to give good gifts to 
your children, how much more shall your Heaven- 
ly Father give the Holy Spirit, to them that ask 
Him." 

The first, and greatest educational institu- 
tion in the world, is the home. A close second to 
it, is the public school and Church, working hand- 
in-hand. After that, the higher schools find their 
places easily. An educated Christian is the real 
the finished man. ''Ye are complete in Him.'' 



CHAPTER V. 
Christianity and Miracles. 

We do not care to discuss miracles, jus^ ki 
themselves considered. 

It would be neither interesting nor profitable. 

The Miracles of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, 
taken in connection with their mission and work, 
and really, as the initiation of their work, ought 
to be both interesting and profitable. 

In taking up the study of miracles in connec- 
tion with Christianity, it is of first importance 
that we take into account the whole subject in 
hand. We naturally expect persons of extra- 
ordinary ability, to do, at least some extraordin- 
ary things. Otherwise we would consider them 
only ordinary. 

The doing of wonderful and surprising feats 
did not make JesusChrist a wonderful and super- 
ordinary person ; what he did, may have added to 
His fame, but it added nothing to His power and 
personal influence. He was possessed of super- 
human, and super natural powers. He was a new 
type of man; such as the human race had never 
before known. To the human mind and under- 
standing, He Himself was the greatest miracle 
(wonder) of the world. 

To deny that, is to deny everything that per- 
tains to the whole Christian system. It would be 
to deny the very first and fundamental proclama- 
tion, viz: ''The Kingdom of heaven is at haRd.;'^ 
first announced by John the Baptist, then by 
Jesus, then by the twelve, afterward by the seren- 
ty others who were chosen and sent out to pro- 
claim it. 

The first thought to be impressed on the 
world, was, that a new Kingdom was about to be 
ushered in. Not only new, but high, the "of- 

49 



50 CHRISTIANITY 

heaven" kingdom, men knew something of the 
other, lower, kingdoms, viz : the mineral, vegetable 
and animal kingdoms, but they knew nothing of a 
Spiritual kingdom. They could not, for they them- 
selves were not spiritual. They had no spiritual 
discernment. Therefore all powers and manifesta- 
tions belonging exclusively to the new kingdom 
were miracles, i. e., supernatural to them. They 
saw the manifestation of powers, (dynamis) that 
were astonishing, were marvelous; but, with the 
statement, that ''the kingdom of heaven is at 
hand," ringing in their ears, why should they not 
expect some demonstrations of new powers; and 
why should not we? All that we have learned in 
nature should lead us to that conclusion. In the 
vegetable kingdomi we see forces that did not ap- 
pear in the mineral. We see the tree taking mat- 
ter from the soil and carrying it up 100 feet or 
more, and building it and holding it there, in de- 
fiance of the force of gravitation. We see the 
animal appropriating matter from the vegetable 
and not only overcoming gravitation, but also the 
power of inertia, by moving itself from place to 
place. Always, as we ascend the scale of life, new 
and higher powers appear, which set at naught 
the lower laws, as we are accustom^ed to call them. 
A tree is a miracle to all that belongs to the 
mineral kingdom, not that it looks so different but 
it manifests powers that are so different. A horse 
and a grasshopper are both miracles to the vege- 
table world. Not that the horse is so different 
in appearance from a tree, or the grasshopper 0© 
different from a touch-me-not ; but what they A>, 
is so strikingly different. They belong to a higher 
kingdom; that accounts for it, and we are satis- 
fied to let the matter rest there. Cattle may 
know how to gore one another to death, but when 
a man shoots one, that is a miracle to them, they 
don't understand how he hurts and kills them, 



CHRISTIANITY 51 

when he is so far away. In many ways the power 
of mind over brute force is manifested. It is so 
common we cease to wonder at it. Now, is it 
reasonable to conclude that it is impossible that a 
higher kingdom should appear, or, if we admit its 
possibility, should we be surprised that new pow- 
ers of life should appear in it ? 

There are two words in the original Greek, 
and only two, that are sometimes translated ''mir- 
acle.'' The one is ''dynamis" w^hich literally means 
power. The other is ''semeion," which literally 
means, sign. Sometimes they are translated lit- 
erally ; so that, in reading our New Testament, we 
find Jesus and some of his Apostles; performing 
miracles, showing signs, doing wonders, and man- 
ifesting powers. They really did only two things 
out of the ordinary or natural course of things; 
either of which were miraculous, because man in 
his natural state cannot comprehend them. The 
miracles of Christianity are not intended to excite 
curiosity or wonder; altho they do both. They 
are not intended to attest to, or show forth, super- 
natural power; altho they do that also, incident- 
ally. The thing that attested and proved Christ's 
relationship with God, The Father, was his right- 
eousness, his love, and his beneficence. He said 
that he did the works of his Father, and chal- 
lenged the Jews and the world to convict him of 
sin. The proof of discipleship for his followers is 
their love for one another and toward all men. 
The miraculous things that Christianity is still 
doing, are the normal result of the kind of life. 

Jesus did not do miracles just to show that 
he had power that no one else possessed, but be- 
cause it was right and normally in line with his 
purpose and His work, every act that He per- 
formed during His ministry, was a sample and 
demonstration of what Christianity should do. He 
was the working model for the whole Christian 



52 CHRISTIANITY 

machine. The things that Jesus did, all the things, 
miracles included, set forth in miniature the en- 
tire program of the new kingdom, i. e. Christian- 
ity. Not what Christianity might do, but what it 
must do, just as the working model of a grain- 
separator must demonstrate exactly what the fin- 
ished machine will do in the big grain field, and 
the machine must do what the model shows, or 
there is a deception or an error some place. 

Every individual sign gave a lesson and set 
forth a possibility^ of the ''kingdom of heaven." 
They, every one of them, had beneficence in them, 
and thereby bespoke the benficence of the ''king- 
dom of Jesus Christ,'' (Christianity). Not only 
so, but they were set forth in order. First the 
transforming power, (not reforming,) in the first 
miracle, changing that which is natural into that 
which is spiritual, now, does some scientist say: 
"Yes, Nature does that, i. e., makes wine," Let 
him point out the example. Nature, in the vege- 
table kingdom, makes the fruit. Man,. in the ani- 
mal kingdom, presses out the juice, adds some 
sugar and sets it in vessels, and God, in the Spirit- 
ual kingdom, makes it wine. 

"God makes it wine." Yes, you say: but we 
can hinder God from making it wine, by shutting 
out the air. Very true, we can help or hinder God 
in the ordinary processes of His work, in every 
kingdom, even in the Spiritual. "We are laborers 
together with God," or we are hinderers and re- 
tarders of his work, in a great many ways. That 
is a gracious privilege God has given us, so that J 
we may learn to know Him." But, not so with 
His arbitrary decrees, "He can work and none can 
hinder." "Neither is worshiped with men's 
hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he 
giveth to all, life and breath, and all things," 
Time is never a necessary factor in God's work, 
any more than it is in His existence. He may do 



CHRISTIANITY 53 

a thing instantly, or He may take a thousand 
I years, it's all the same to Him. So in all God's 
works, in every kingdom. He does things accord- 
ing to his own purpose. Otherwise He is not the 
Christian's God, ("The Father of Our Lord Jesus 
Christ,"). We must concede: that, ''with God all 
things are possible." To deny that, would be to 
deny cur God and substitute a finite one. We can- 
not, in this article, go into detail by naming and 
comnienting on each separate miracle; it is not 
necessary to our purpose at this time. It might 
be w^ell to consider the different kinds, and their 
import. After that of transforming, were the 
many various kinds of miracles of healing and re- 
storing, including all classes of diseases, and all 
kinds of defects that flesh is heir to. In their 
working out most of them had an immediate, and 
also a remote significance. The lessons taught by 
them, were both literal and spiritual. In either 
case, they are beneficient. The ''draught of 
fishes," at the Sea of Galilee, not only remuner- 
ated the fisherm.en, at the time, who had given 
their boats and their time for His help in teach- 
ing the large crovv^d that had gathered to hear 
Him ; but it also portrayed to them and to us that 
by entering into Christ's work and co-operating 
with Him in His work "of the kingdom," we shall 
in some, perhaps unexepected v/ay, be remuner- 
ated; and also the lesson that, no matter what 
their success had been, w^hen acting on their own 
judgment; when acting on his commands, their 
success is sure ; and bountiful. The astonishment 
and surprise was only incidental. 

The "calming of the tempest," on the Sea, 
which, in a figurative way, alwa3^s mxcans the 
lower class of society, was a wonderfully consol- 
ing and comforting experience to the disciples 
who were with Him in the boat; they were 
"scared to death." He first gave them a mild re- 



54 CHRISTIANITY 

buke for their lack of faith, then **He rebuked 
the winds and the Sea/' and there was a great 
Calm/' They marveled saying: *'What manner of 
Man is this." That, however, was only a by- pro- 
duct. The real lesson, to them, and to us is that 
when we are traveling with Christ, no matter how 
up-roarious and threatening the surroundings, due 
to disturbed social conditions, w^e and our boat, 
will never be over- whelmed if we just call the 
Master's attention to it. Things calm down so 
that we are really astonished and marvel at the 
way it is done. 

Miracles 

The transfiguration is a Miraculous presen- 
tation of truths which perhaps surpasses all 
others in the briefness and compactness of its 
demonstration, as compared to the scope and far- 
reaching application in the development of Christ- 
ianity in the world, and the part Christianity 
has played as a governing force, in connection 
with law, and the controlling power of education, 
Moral Suasion, and Public Sentiment. 

The Actual Miraculous demonstration occu- 
pied perhaps only a few moments of time, and was 
encompassed within a very limited space. It had 
but three witnesses who were competent to testi- 
fy. Yet, in that panoramic picture was presented 
historic facts which have covered thousands of 
years in its unfolding. The world has been the 
stage of its operations and the whole human fam- 
ily its witnesses. We are made to see at a single 
glance, the three governing forces of the world. 
In Moses we see, law. In Elias we see: Moral 
Suasion and Personal influence. In Christ we 
have the power of spiritual impulse and spiritual 
intuition. 

When the cloud that obscures our Vision 
shall have been lifted, and our fear and uncertain- 
ty shall have been dispelled, and we are able 



CHRISTIANITY 55 

again to lift up our eyes and look on the scene, 
Jesus Christ alone will be in evidence. 

The whole wide world v/ill hear the Voice 
from heaven saying: 'This is My Beloved Son, 
Hear Ye Him." Moses, (the law) and Elias, (the 
preacher) no longer needed in human affairs, will 
have disappeared, ''and the Government shall be 
upon His shoulders — and of the increase of His 
government and Peace there shall be no end." 
Isaiah 9:6-7. 

Another, of a different kind, was that of 
"feeding the multitudes." This in both cases was 
a kind and compassionate deed. He knew they 
needed the material food as v/ell as the lessons 
that he was teaching them. While this is true^ 
and also that it showed his marvelous resources 
in providing for all their needs, yet the larger 
lesson is, that Christianity can receive and assimi- 
late and provide for the needs of almost unlimited 
numbers without taxing its resources; because 
they increase with the administering to others ; so 
that "the more we gij^e the more we have." You 
remember in both instances they took up of the 
left-overs more than the original quantity. We 
need look to no other source for our supplies, but 
we sometimes do ; doubting if the apparently small 
supply will satisfy all the people. I visited the 
study of the pastor of one of our most flourish- 
ing churches. On a table, before me, lay a pocket- 
size New Testament. I looked around the room, 
on the table, under the table, and all along one 
side of the large study room, were large volumes 
of books, hundreds in num.ber. As I looked from 
the little New Testament to all the other large 
volumes, I thought; My brother, you ought to 
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and 
Sadducees." "Do you not remember the five loaves 
of the five thousand and how many baskets you 
took up? nor the seven loaves of the four thou- 



56 CHRISTIANITY 

sand, and how many baskets you took up? The 
barley loaves and fishes seemed meager in both 
variety and quantity, yet they contained all the 
elements of nourishment that the system needed. 
So our little New Testament, has all the elements 
the soul needs, and, as we draw from it, we are 
amazed at the inexhaustible supply. Another 
time Jesus walked on the Sea. That never seemed 
so miraculous a feat as some of the other things 
which He (Jesus) did; but when we remember 
that it was a boisterous Sea and at night; it was 
a truly wonderful thing to do. When the disciples 
in the boat saw it, they were troubled and fright- 
ened. They thought it a ghost. He calms their 
fears by saying: **it is I." Peter, so accustomed 
to the Sea, thought it would be an easy swim, 
he had no fear of the Sea, but the boisterous 
winds were too much for him; *'He got scared." 
This one miracle seemed merely incidental ; but as 
we think of conditions and surroundings, we find 
a very important lesson in it. Jesus had sent 
the disciples across the sea alone, while he dis- 
missed the multitude and then went up to pray. 
They found it hard boating that night, winds 
were contrary. 

It was approaching the time when He must 
tell them that he is going to leave them, and they 
must meet the vicissitudes of life, in the world, 
alone. Night would overtake them, and the very 
elements that usually helped them along, would 
be contrary; making progress very slow and 
tedious. There would come times, when there 
would be a commingling of discouragement, doubt, 
and fearful mis-givings ; they must have a sample 
of it before-hand. They must know that He is 
not so far away, but that he can come to the res- 
cue in due time to give relief; they must not be 
overconfident, as Peter, nor yet, faithless; what 
seems a frightful specter may prove to be their 



CHRISTIANITY 57 

best friend, who says: ''It is I, be not afraid/' 
Christianity has its experience with the Sea, (the 
low^er classes, and with the plains, (the masses) 
as w^ell as with the hills (the better classes) and 
the Mountains (the ruling class). The Sea is 
not liable to engulf us for we know it. But we 
may have a struggle with it, when it becomes dis- 
turbed and boisterous, and darkness surrounds 
us. 

There is still one more. It is hard to see any 
sense in it. It is the ''blasting or cursing of the 
fig tree." He was reaching the crisis in his earth- 
ly career. The lines were being closly drawn. He 
had just the day before made his triumphal en- 
trance into the City of Jerusalem, the people dec- 
orated the way with their garments and branches 
of the trees. It was an impromptu ovation and 
parade; there was a sudden impulse of rejoicing 
that became contagious, they shouted; "Hosanna 
to the Son of David." David, a name that touched 
and thrilled the heart of every honest Jew. The 
children in the temple took up the refrain, say- 
ing: "Hosanna." The Scribes and Priests and 
high-up Temple-functionaries, moved to jealousy, 
tried to silence him by calling attention to the 
childish out-burst; but he said; that is genuine, 
spontaneous, honest praise. "Out of the mouth 
of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise." 
(They), The priests, were in authority, and he 
was not, as they thought; yet he knew that he, 
himself, had the highest, and the only real au- 
thority. There was a clash. His followers must 
know their standing and the standing and author- 
ity of their master. He showed them that the Sea 
could not overwhelm them, but now, ''the Mount- 
ains" threatened to fall on them, it seemed that 
they would be crushed out by the Church Author- 
ities. The simple incident of the fig-tree, gave 
the occasion for the lesson. It is said: "He hung- 



58 CHRISTIANITY 

ered." It was not physical hunger, for He was 
just returnmg from Bethany where His good 
friends Martha and Mary lived. No, Martha would 
not let him go hungry; it was a different kind of 
hunger. The Church at Jerusalem was starving 
Him. '^Nothing but leaves," ''barren," when it 
ought to have food for His hungry soul and His 
hungry heart. His disciples "marveled that it 
vv^as so soon withered away," ''Jesus answered and 
said : if ye have faith, and doubt not ; ye shall not 
only do this which is done to the fig-tree, but ye 
shall say to this mountain, the sanhedrim, be thou 
removed and cast into the sea, and it shall be 
done." What is the lesson for Chris tianit}^? Why 
it is this, that, with faith in the righteousness of 
its work and the authority of its leader, it can say 
to the church that furnishes no food, the "barren 
church," let it wither; and also to the "moun- 
tains" of authority: "be thou removed into the 
sea. You high-up-in-authority-folks, come down 
from your ruling pedestal, and take your place 
with the out-casts of society, where you really 
belong. Our Master says: "You shall not hinder 
our progress any longer. "Every mountain shall 
be brought low;" to all earthly authorities, he 
says: "Inasmuch as you did it unto these my 
brethren.'' — —You shall live. Or, "inasmuch as 
you did not unto these my brethren" you shall 

"go away." Nothing shall hinder or stand in 

the way of the progress of Christianity. Not the 
turbulent criminal class, not the barren-church- 
class. Nor yet the ruling class, even the gates of 
Hell must give way. If the ruling authorities ask ; 
by what authority does Christianity act. It also 
will ask them a question : "The Baptism of John, 
whence was it ?" Or, to speak literally and plain- 
ly: The repentance of, and turning from sin and 
the doing of righteousness. What about it? is it 
all right? If it is, then why do you not practice 



CHRISTIANITY 59 

it; if you say it is not; then look for the verdict 
of the people. In Russia they have spoken. And 
every nation that denies Christianity the right 
way, and refuses the "Scepter of Righteousness/' 
will have them to deal with, sooner or later. 

But, the question still may be asked: does 
Christianity still do miracles? We say, yes. It 
must do, now or at some time, all the different 
kinds of miracles that Christ and the Apostles 
did. And, moreover, it m^ust do them on a large 
scale, in the great broad field of the world; and 
not in some isolated hamlet or village ; or, in the 
presence of, and for the benefit of, the few, 
Neither will it do them to satisfy the curiosity of 
a ''wicked and adulterous generation.'' The trans- 
forming power (dynamis) is a daily occurance 
throughout Christendom. The healing and restor- 
ing power is shown in multiplied demionstrations 
in every city, town and village, whither-soever 
Christianity has gone, in all the world. 

All the signs (semeion), which indicated 
what Christianity should do, are being accurately 
fulfilled in their order. They were first done by 
the Master under different circumstances, and at 
widely different times, and for very different 
purposes. And so, we must expect their fulfill- 
ment to be carried out in like manner. 

Some of them have had actual demonstration 
already. Others are still for the future of Christ- 
ianity to carry out. The "Miraculous draught of 
fishes,'' showing that Christianity can and must 
pay its own way, has all along been demonstrated. 
"V/alking on the Sea," appearing at an unexpected 
time and place to relieve a discouraging and peril- 
ous situation on account of the bad elements, has 
had verification in many instances. The feeding 
of thousands, nay, millions, through the super 
human power and influence of Christianity, is, 
at this time, a matter of daily occurrence ; supply- 



60 CHRISTIANITY 

ing- both the material, and the spiritual needs. 

The incident of the "fig tree/' has already 
been explained ; but, as a matter of actual working 
out in Christian experience, I would call your at- 
tention to the missionary work of the apostles; 
especially of Peter at Jerusalem, and of Paul and 
Silas, at Phillipi, Acts 16:16-40, and at Theslonica 
Acts 17:5-9, and also at Corinth, Acts 18:9-16. 
Very many similar experiences has Christianity 
had all down the centuries, the records of which 
we cannot here mention. 

The Miracles by the hands of the apostles 
were mostly that of healing and restoring. One 
only needs special mention ; that of ''Annanias and 
Sapphira.'' Acts 5:1-10, it has become a subject 
for insinuations and gibes; but it has a real sig- 
nificance, in connection with the circumstances, 
as they were just at that time. They were test- 
ing communisim ; very beautiful in theory, and 
most worthy and beneficent in practice, if! It 
seems a good thing that the experiment was made 
so early in their career. It would certainly not 
be safe for the church now. 

What about that "if;" well, it seems that they 
must have forgotten the lesson of one of the 
Master's parables, viz: that the Gospel drag net 
is liable to take in some bad with the good. And 
that the task of separating is for the Angels, at 
the end of the world. Peter alone could hardly 
be blamed. Communism contemplates absolute 
truthfulness and honesty and not a trace of self- 
ishness on the part of every individual member 
of the commune. Christianity can have no hope 
of any such thing, till after the end of the world. 
"The Holy Spirit is the chief executive now, and 
He would have to pronounce sentence in every 
case just as He did in the cases mentioned. There 
would be no other alternative in real communism. 
How beautiful it would be to have that kind of a 



CHRISTIANITY 61 

society or church, with such strict and universal 
truthfulness and honesty, that the Holy Spirit 
would have no occasion to strike anybody dead. 
But it is one of Christianity's cherished hopes. The 
miraculous manifestation of the Holy Spirit on the 
day of Pentecost belongs in a class by itself. The 
sudden bursting forth of new life, of any kind and 
in any form, is a mj^sterious and wonderful 
thing. Seed cast into the soil and out of sight, is, 
for the time being, entirely out of man's control, 
and away from under his observation. But, 
nevertheless in silence and obscurity something is 
transpiring with that seed; the husbandman is 
commanded to wait; that is all he can do, at this 
stage of the process, after some days of "watchful 
waiting," during which time the embryonic life, 
bound up in the seed, is quietly preparing to make 
its debut into a new kingdom. It really belonged 
there all the time but could not make a suitable 
appearance until it went into seclusion and let 
dame nature help it to prepare a suitable costume 
in which to niake its first appearance in the vege- 
table kingdom. It comes forth as a surprise for 
those who were not looking for it. Its form and 
attire, and indeed everything about it, is so dif- 
ferent. "Such is life," such it is in the vegetable 
kingdom, and so also it appears in the Spiritual 
Kingdom. The seed has been sown in the heart- 
soil of Christ's followers while he was with them. 
In every word, in every parable, and in every mir- 
acle there was seed-thought. At the last, his 
Apostles drank in his very Spirit and life. He 
said: "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground 
and die it abideth alone, but if it die, it bringeth 
forth fruit." He disappeared from the world, but 
as a seed in the soil, he was safely lodged in hearts 
of his disciples. "Tarry !" He said, until ye be en- 
dued with power from on high." The days of 
waiting are passed. The time to make their debut 



62 CHRISTIANITY 

into the new kingdom is at hand, New counte- 
nances, new manifestations of life and pow^er, it 
was indeed a new and marvelous demonstration. 
No human beings had ever appeared like that. It 
had been forseen in prophetic vision, by Joel, the 
prophet, but here was the actual display of it. 
**They spake with other tongues, as the Spirit 
gave them utterance." A manifestation of Spirit 
Power, in real, ''for sure," common men. Nobody 
had ever ''seen it on this wise." 

The miraculous lesson is in the fact — "every 
man heard them speak the wonderful things of 
God, in his own tongue, wherein he was born." 
Christianity has been doing that very thing ever 
since. Whereas they heard the "wonderful works 
of God," in 17 different tongues, now they hear 
them in nearly 200 different languages and dia- 
lects. "Their line is gone out through all the 
earth, and their words to the end of the world." 

We can arrive at only one conclusion in regard 
to the miracles of Jesus Christ. And that is: no 
miracles, then, no Christianity. They are as es- 
sential to, and intimately bound up with each 
other as the life of the body, and the functions, 
by w^hich that life is manifested. 



CHAPTER VI. 
^'The Kingdom, The Church, and Christianity." 

In speaking of the mission and work of Jesus 
Christ, we are accustomed to use a number of 
terms and words interchangeably, which are not 
at all synonymous. Sometimes they are so. For 
instance: the ''kingdom of heaven," the "kingdom 
of God/' the ''Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ," 
are synonyms, so also: "preaching the word," 
"preaching Christ," "preaching the Gospel of 
Christ," all mean the same thing. But, such 
terms as: "heaven," "the paradise of God," "the 
future world," "the land of Canaan," etc., are not ; 
they should be used, if at all, with due care as to 
their significance. Strictly speaking, Christ's 
work is not in the world. His mission, and His 
message was to the world. His work is the Sal- 
vation of the world. The first statement in re- 
gard to it is, that "He shall baptize with the Holy 
Spirit and with fire." The word baptize is not 
always used in its literal sense, but means to sep- 
arate and to cleanse. The subjects are separated 
from something, to, or unto, or into some thing 
or person. The "Children of Israel" were baptized 
unto Moses, in the cloud, and in the sea." Jewish 
proselytes were baptized into the Jewish religion 
or church ; John baptized unto repentance for re- 
mission of sins; the disciples were baptized into 
or unto Christ, e. g., "know ye not that so many 
as were baptized into Christ were baptized 
into his death?" Rom. 6:3. "For by one Spirit 
are we all baptized into one body." — Cor. 12:13. 
"Ye are all the children of God, by faith in 
Christ ; for as many of you as have been baptized 
into Christ, have put on Christ," i. e. you have 
become Christians. 

In every such case, it means separation to, 

63 



64 CHRISTIANITY 

or into, or unto. Apart from his propitiatory 
death, the first and most important work of 
Christ, is to baptize (separate) men into (or unto) 
Himself, and for His kingdom. **Whose Fan is 
in his hand, and He will thoroughly purge His 
floor, and gather his wheat into the garner, but 
he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable 
fire." — Matt. 3:12. In this, he not only separates 
but he disposes of each part after the separation. 
The same thought is expressed in regard to the 
^^Nations''— Matt. 25:32-46. To the one class he 
says : ^'ComC;, ye blessed of My Father inherit the 
Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 
of the world/' To the other class he says: ''De- 
part, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared 
for the devil and his angels.'' 

In the 1st and 2nd Psalms we find the same 
differences pointed out; in the 1st, as to individ- 
uals; in the 2nd, as to nations. The righteous 
are as trees planted by the rivers of water, al- 
ways green, and bearing fruit in their season. 
''The wicked are like the chaff that the wind 
driveth away— The Lord knoweth the way of the 
righteous, but the way of the wicked shall per- 
ish." As for the nations that oppose him: "He 
shall break them with a rod of iron, (iron, fig- 
ures very largely in the breaking of nations, in 
this our day) and dash them in pieces like a pot- 
ter's vessel. Be wise, ye Kings ; be instructed, 
ye Judges of the earth — kiss the Son lest he be 
angry, and ye perish in the way." Psa. 2:9-12. 

The first and most im.pressive thoughts are, 
that a new kingdom is at hand, that it is a king- 
dom in v/hich righteousness reigns, and peace and 
Joy are constant conditions; and that men must 
be drawn from the world and be separated and 
garnered in a clean place. Unlike "the chaff that 
the wind driveth away," "they shall go into life 
eternal" Jesus said to His disciples: "Ye are not 



CHRISTIANITY 65 

of the world, even as I am not of the world." **I 
have chosen you out of the world, therefore the 
world hateth you/' 

If Christ's work is not in the world, then 
where is it ? I know of no better way to express ' 
it, than to say that he stands on the dividing- 
line, betw^een the world and the ''Kingdom of 
heaven." He superintends operations on both 
sides of the line. He himself becomes the ''port 
of entry" from the one into the other. 

"I am the door," — Jno. 10:9. "I am the way," 
— Jno. 14:6. With the Holy Spirit that is in 
Him, and with the fan that is in his hand, he is 
separating the wheat from the chaff, and passing 
it over the line into the garner. His kingdom. 

"He came to His own, and His own received 
Him not; but as many as received Him, to them 
gave he power to become the Sons of God, even 
to them that believe in his name^ (Christians). 

"No man cometh unto the Father but by 
me." He came from the Father. He is the Lord- 
man from heaven, the "last Adam," the repre- 
sentative head of "the Kingdom." 

The Kingdom was not prepared for Him, but 
for his children, "the righteous nation." "Who 
shall number His generation?'^ — Isa. 53:8. "Of 
the increase of his government and peace there 
shall be no end." — Isa. 9 :7. 

It was prepared from the foundation of the 
world, but was not manifest till John declared: 
"the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'' He made 
the openinf proclamation: "Behold the Lamb of 
God that taketh away the Sin of the world." Sin 
had kept its door closed. It was for the right- 
eousness, but "there was none righteous, no not 
one." Now the sinless one is here. Not only so, 
but "he is manifested to take away sin/' so that 
sinful men may become righteous^ and "have a 
right to enter in." Loyalty to the Father, and 



66 CHRISTIANITY 

righteousness, put Jesus Christ on the throne of 
this kingdom. It is now not only the Kingdom 
of heaven, but the ''Kingdom of our Lord and 
Savior, Jesus Christ." 

Loyalty to Him, and righteousness, is our 
only pass-port into it. Occassionally one is smug- 
gled in without a pass. *'The law and the proph- 
ets were until John, since then the Kingdom of 
heaven is preached.'' 

The thought of the Kingdom is the first to 
come into view. Its coming had been predicted 
and expected by the Jews, but was not rightly 
understood by them. They thought of an earthly 
kingdom, like that of David but more powerful 
and aggressive. They could not think of it as a 
kingdom super-added to the natural kingdom 
which God had established at the creation of the 
world. 

It was a part of the original plan of creation ; 
it was "prepared from the foundation of the 
world," yet it had to wait over 4,000 years for a 
suitable occupant. Immediately after the temp- 
tation of Jesus, when he was proved true and 
loyal, it was turned over to Him; for He was 
worthy not only to occupy it but to be its Head 
and Ruler. "Being found in fashion as a man, He 
humbled himself, and became obedient unto 
death, even the death of the cross ; wherefore God 
hath highly exalted him and given him a name 
which is above every name etc.," Phil. 2:8-11. 

It was rather a unique condition at the open- 
ing: there was the kingdom and its ruler, but 
without inhabitants or subjects. Must he be the 
sole occupant? Yes, ''except he, as a grain of 
wheat, fall into the soil and die, he must abide 
alone;" there was a similar circumstance when 
Abraham was given the land of Canaan as a 
possession for himself and his offspring, when, 
as yet, he had no children, A progeny, in both 



CHRISTIANITY 67 

cases, was in anticipation, and was a foregone con- 
clusion. Jesus Christ's only opportunity of peo- 
pling his kingdom, was to bury himself in the 
heart-soil of humanity, and in that way to draw 
up men suitable to be his associates, and share 
his kingdom with him. Indeed, at his request, 
the world was included in the gift from his 
Father, who said to him "Ask of me, and I will 
give thee the nations for inheritance, and the 
uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." 
Psa. 2:8. They are his to draw from, he must 
take of them and transform them from a state 
of sinfulness to righteousness and holiness, for 
only such can be heirs. He must people the king- 
dom of heaven with righteous inhabitants. "And 
he must reign till he has put all enemies under 

his feet, the last enemy is death. When all 

things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the 
Son, also himself be subject, — that God may be 
all in all." Cor. 15:25-28. 

There is sure to come a time when Kingdoms 
of this world shall have "become the kingdom 
of our Lord and of his Christ ;" and so we continue 
to pray — ^'Thy kingdom come, and Thy will be 
done on earth as it is in heaven." 

Jesus must continue to draw to himself, and 
make them like himself: in fact one in spirit and 
purpose with himself: until the time of final sep- 
aration, when "the wicked shall be severed from 
among the righteous;" "the tares from among 
the wheat," and the ^^bad fish from among the 
good." He shall send forth his Angels (Minis- 
ters) and they shall gather out of his kingdom 
all things that offend, and them that do iniquity ; 

and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: 

Then shall the righteous shine forth in the king- 
dom of their Father/' 

Some assume that the kingdom is already 
turned over to men, for them to take charge of 



68 CHRISTIANITY 

and run as seems best: following their own con- 
ceptions as to its status and import; the which 
are very vague and indefinite. Others think that 
it is still altogether in the future, to be entered 
and realized after we have crossed the *'river of 
death." Its possession and enjoyments to be a 
reward for our faithfulness ''here below/' Both 
of these assumptions are in some measure cor- 
rect, but they lack the true conception as taught 
by the Lord and His Apostles. 

A careful study of all the Parables of the 
kingdom, showing its likeness from several dif- 
f^erent view-points, gives us a very accurate 
knowledge of its scope and status. The dis- 
ciples of Jesus asked him why he spoke to the 
people in parables, ''he said unto them, because 
it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the 
"kingdom of heaven," but to them it is not 
given." 

True disciples of Jesus Christ now, ought to 
know. 

When the pharisees, of that day, demanded of 
him to tell them when the kingdom of God should 
come, "he said to them ,the kingdom of God 
Cometh not with observation : behold the king- 
dom of God is in the midst of you." 

It was at that time already an established 
fact. Jesus and his true disciples constituted 
the kingdom then, (they were right in the midst 
of the people and of the pharisees), and they 
still do. They are in the midst of the people of 
the world, but not of it. When Paul said: "the 
kingdom of heaven is not (a matter of) eating 
and drinking, but righteousness, and peace and 
joy in the Holy Spirit, he spoke of the essentials 
that characterize the citizens of "the kingdom." 
But now, while it is an established fact, concern- 
ing some of earth's inhabitants, it is not of all. 
It is still incomplete and its citizens are immature 



CHRISTIANITY 69 

and imperfect in many respects, while it is given 
to know the mysteries, yet that knowledge is im- 
perfect. We see things ''through a glass dimly/' 
Christians are now, the ''children of the kingdom," 
"but it doth not yet appear" what they shall be. 

The kingdom is in process of development, 
and most Christians are still in their infancy. 
They grow and reach maturity gradually, through 
discipline and education, in the "school of Christ" 
until they become like their Master (teacher) : 
"The pupil is not above his teacher, but every 
one that is perfect (in his lessons) shall be as 
his teacher (Master)." — Luke 6:40. We know 
that when he shall be manifest (in us) we shall 
be like him/' If we have such a hope, we should 
strive to purify ourselves, for he is pure. Be- 
longing to a "clean" people or race ,having a per- 
fect, a pure teacher, why ought not v/e as Christ- 
ians, to arrive at perfection and purity? We do, 
just in porportion as we keep in touch with the 
Master, and imbibe his teaching. "The school of 
Christ" is the church, the "Ekklesia," the called- 
out class. It is an educational institution, for 
the developing and perfecting of the Saints, the 
disciples of Christ, Christians. The church of to- 
day seems to be occupied with many things, be- 
sides the teaching and maturing of its mem.bers, 
and "the edifying (building up) of itself in love.'' 

We are made to wonder if it is not a case of 
the "blind leading the blind:" of teachers "who 
have need that some one teach them again the 
rudiments of the principles of the oracles of God ; 
and who still have need of milk, and not of solid 
food."— Heb. 5:12. 

The functionaries of the church are appointed 
and assigned to their work, by the Holy Spirit, 
which is God's free gift to all (Christian. 

"The church is the body, (corporate institu- 
tion) of Jesus Christ, and every Christian is a 



70 CHRISTIANITY 

member thereof ,and God hath appointed somej 
in the church, first Apostles, secondly prophets] 
(preachers*, thirdly teachers then powers, thenj 
healers (physicians) , helpers, counselors, lin- ' 
guists, ones capable of translating the teaching 
into different languages — 1 Cor. 12:27-28." "And 
he gave some (to be) Apostles and some Proph- 
ets, and some evangelists and some pastors and 
teachers; for the perfecting of the Saints, unto 
the work of ministering, unto the building up of 
the church; till — all attain unto the unity of the 
faith and of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, unto 
a full grown Man, unto the measure of the sta- 
ture of the fulness of Christ: etc.'' — Eph. 4:11-16. < 

The righteousness of Christians must exceed 
the righteousness of the "Scribes and Pharisees." 
It cannot be a pseudo-righteousness. 

They muat be loyal to Christ, and obedient to 
His commands at all times and under all circum- | 
stances, no matter what position they hold in the 
church, from the hightest official to lowliest lay- 
member. "If any would follow me let him deny 
himself, and take up his cross and follow me." 
No circumstance or relationship in the world, 
can stand between the Christian and his Lord. 
Does that seem too heavy an obligation for any- 
one to assume? Just consider for a moment, 
the obligations that earthly governments put on 
their subjects or citizens. In the late world- war, 
what citizen dared to refuse his nation's call ? If 
he was loyal, he willingly left everything and 
everybod}^ that he held dear, and responded to 
his country's call. He was ready to give his pos- 
sessions and his life if necessary. If any were 
disloyal, they had to get out, or be imprisoned. 
Loyalty and obedience are essential and necessary 
to the stability of any Government. Christianity 
can be no exception, it holds true in all govern- 
ments, whether they be high or low, good or bad. 



CHRISTIANITY 71 

The church is Christ's conquering army, and 
includes every citizen of his kingdom, of every 
station and of every degree; no matter what else 
he has to do, he is expected to fight. It has com- 
panies all along the line to superintend the immi- 
gration stations, to admit desirables into the 
kingdom and so far as possible to keep out unde- 
sirables, but they slip along in, sometimes. 

It is frequently asked ; is the church perfect ? 
No, "it is not, in this present dispensation, she is 
undergoing a course of discipline and training, and 
purifying, that will make her as a chaste virgin, 
''without spot or wrinkle or any such thing." 

The present is called the dispensation of the 
Holy Spirit and of grace; Yet, we must remember 
what Jesus said about it, so that we are not mis- 
led. He said: "it is expedient for you that I go 
away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will 
not come unto you." The disciple must have in- 
herent strength and courage as well as external 
counsel and directions ; the "Spirit of truth'' could 
not come into them while he was with them. 
"How be it when he, the Spirit of truth is come, 
he will guide you into all truth, he shall not speak 

of himself. He shall take of mine, and shall 

show it unto you." Christ himself is still in au- 
thority over us. He said: "lo I am with you al- 
ways ,even unto the end of the world." 

All of his teaching and all of his commands 
are still for our learning and for our observing. 
The Holy Spirit is not over us, but in us, if we are 
Christians. He is our helper, in learning the les- 
sons that Christ gave us, and in doing all that he 
commanded us, and he gives us peace and Joy in 
the doing of them. "In the keeping of them there 
is great reward." — Psa. 19:11. 

The kingdom, and the church, and Chris- 
tianity are not identical, though they are insep- 
arably connected with each other. 



72 CHRISTIANITY 

The kingdom is the home, the church is the 
family, and Christianity is the family-name, or 
communal life of the family; just as with the de- 
scendants of Abraham "Canaan" was the home, 
the Israelites" were the family, while "Israel" was 
the family name, and designated the race of the 
communal life of the nation. 

As Paul said: "they are not all Israel that are 
of Israel." and also: "he is not a Jew who is one 
outwardly, but he is a Jew, who is one inwardly." 

So we might now say : they are not all Chris- 
tians that are of Christianity; and he is not a 
Christian who is one outwardly, but he that is one 
inwardly. "Behold, Thou desireth truth in the 
inward parts." — Psa. 51-6. 

When Christianity shall have reached ma- 
turity, and the Church shall have finished its Mis- 
sion, and the Kingdom for which we now pray, 
shall have fully come ; then the word of God, say- 
ing: "Behold, I make all things new," will have 
been fulfilled. Then the new heaven and new 
earth v/herein dwelleth righteousness will be a 
glorious consummation, and the "New creatures 
in Christ Jesus" "will be all righteous." Then our 
groanings and our sighings shall cease, for we 
will have "the adoption, to- wit: the redemption of 
our body." 

Till then, "Christianity" grows, as a tree 
planted by the rivers of water, as a luxuriant vine 
in a fruitful hill." 

Till then, "The Church" prays: "Thy King- 
dom Come," and builds with, "living stones" the 
temple of our God, while she in hope and patience 
waits the coming of her Lord. 

Till then, "the Kingdom" Comes, with steady 
conquering tread, by its triumphant King and 
ruler lead. 

Till Then: "In God We Trust." 



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